Posted: 17:51, September 18, 2022 | Updated: 21:02, 18 September 2022
A Danish tourist was shot in the back on New York’s Upper West Side early Sunday morning after refusing to hand over his cellphone to a robber, police said.
The man was returning home from a party when he was arrested by the gunman at 3.30am. at West 103rd Street and West End Boulevard on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
The unidentified male robber demanded money from the man and then his cell phone.
When the Danish resident attempted to refuse the gunman’s demands and walk away, he was shot in the back.
“He just kept walking and the guy shot him,” a police source was quoted as saying.
The scene from New York’s Upper West Side where a Danish tourist was shot in the back after fleeing a robber
The tourist was arrested by the unknown man, who demanded money and his phone, but the tourist refused
Originally from Argentina, the victim was taken to St Luke’s Hospital in a stable condition
The man, who was born in Argentina but is a resident of Denmark, was taken to St. Luke in stable condition.
There were no immediate arrests and the investigation is ongoing, according to the NYPD.
New Yorkers are fed up with the latest increase in violence and crime on the city’s streets, as well as widespread looting and physical altercations in many neighborhoods.
The widespread crime problem was not confined to any one area, with neighborhoods previously considered safe now rife with crime.
In Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea neighborhood, children are reportedly exposed to nudity, sexual acts and drug use, while business owners face constant break-ins.
Frustration is growing among residents as overall crime has risen dramatically by 35.31 percent since last year.
About 11,737 robberies have been reported through September 4 – about 3,318 more than the same period last year.
Meanwhile, 10,500 breaches have been reported, about 2,600 more than in 2021.
Criminal assaults are also up by 18.2%, with grand theft leading the rise in crime with more than 10,000 cases reported compared to last year.
The city has also seen a 39% increase in robberies and a 21% increase in assaults.
There has been a mass exodus of officers from the NYPD this year, according to the New York Post, with 2,465 officers applying to leave the department — 42 percent more than the 1,731 who left at the same time last year.
