An 18-year-old suspect has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a woman near a New York City bus stop, according to police.
The NYPD said Thursday officers charged Luis Emmanuel Valencia-Ponte in the apparently random attack on a 29-year-old mother of three in East Elmhurst, Queens.
The woman remains in the hospital after Valencia-Ponte allegedly stabbed her in the back and arms while she was waiting to cross the street early Monday morning at 23rd Avenue and 94th Street.
The attack was caught on surveillance video, and police released new images of the previously unidentified suspect on Wednesday.
The suspect allegedly approached the woman from behind and stabbed her multiple times in East Elmhurst, Queens, on March 16, 2026.
NYPD
In a phone interview with CBS News New York, the victim, who did not know her attacker, said she feared she would not survive.
“I felt like a bang, like a push in my back, and then he stabbed me twice,” she said. “I thought I was gonna die, and I yelled, thinking I was dying already.”
After the attacker ran off, she made it across the street, where a good Samaritan with a dog rushed to her aid.
“He didn’t even hesitate to ask me questions. He just called 911 and told me to lay down on the floor,” she said. “I’m thankful. I’m really thankful.”
Police did not immediately say what charges Valencia-Ponte is facing.
contributed to this report.