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Man Stabbed During Madman's Rampage Sues NYPD For Not Helping Him In Time
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 23, 2011
Modified Mar 23, 2011
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WCBS 2
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 23, 2011
Modified Mar 23, 2011
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On Feburary 12, Joseph Lozito was on the subway from Penn Station, headed to West 66th to go to his job at the Alice Tully Hall box office, but then a man stabbed him in the head. The man turned out to be Maksim Gelman, wanted for three murders, and police officers—who were in the motorman's car— managed to grab Gelman before he caused more violence. But now Lozito is suing the NYPD for apparently not doing more to prevent the madman's actions and not coming to Lozito's aid in a timely fashion.
Lawyer Edmond Chakmakian says that even though subway passengers were yelling for help, the police officers decided to lock themselves in the front room with the conductor because they thought Gelman had a gun. Lozito told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "When the news was brought to my attention that police had an opportunity to intervene and maybe prevent the whole incident, and it was explained to me they chose to stay in the motorman's compartment instead of coming out, I was very upset."
Lozito, who yelled, "You better hope I f---ing die, because I’m going to kill you if I don’t," at Gelman, managed to take down Gelman with a leg sweep. Chakmakian tells the News that cops only decided to come out when they saw Gelman just had a knife, "[Gelman] walks up to Joe and stabs him six times," and says too much time passed before cops attended to Lozito. Another passenger helped tend to Lozito's wounds.
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joseph lozito
lawsuit
maksim gelman
nypd
stabbing
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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