NYPD: Recent arrival from Suffolk charged for alleged stabbing spree

A New York City hospital employee who until recently lived in Wheatley Heights has been arrested and charged in connection with a series of mostly random stabbings on city streets, officials said Thursday.

Jermain Rigueur, 27, was arrested late Wednesday on multiple charges of attempted murder, assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference at police headquarters.

Rigueur, who had been working as a patient greeter at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn since November, allegedly stabbed multiple people in random attacks over the past week within the confines of the 109th and 113th Precincts in Queens, violent assaults that Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday had put the city on edge.

“It didn’t look like he was going to stop any time soon,” Adams said. “It did send real fears throughout our entire city.”

There were no fatalities in the stabbings, all but one of which were apparent random attacks, the NYPD said.

NYPD officials noted the Rigueur had no arrest record in Suffolk County and had passed a background check for employment at Woodhull.

NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said detectives from multiple commands were pressed into duty for the investigation and interacted with more than 1,000 people to develop leads that resulted in Rigueur’s arrest.

“Ultimately, it came down to basic detective work, chasing down leads, knocking on doors,” Caban said.

The crucial lead came, officials said, when someone at a building on 160th Street in the Jamaica section of Queens allowed detectives access to video surveillance images that indicated Rigueur may be living at the location. Detectives surveilled the location and then arrested Rigueur, Kenny said.

Rigueur, who police said had no known history of mental illness, was charged with three counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault, one account of attempted assault and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Kenny said that a backpack was seized from Rigueur and cops had sought a search warrant and were awaiting its approval to see if the backpack contained knives. 

One NYPD detective said numerous video surveillance images were collected and viewed from the various stabbing locations to get a track on the suspect and zero in on a potential residence.

“You follow the guy until you don’t see him [on the street] anymore,” the detective said.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.