Police are searching for a man who they said slashed a livery cab driver during an attempted robbery Saturday morning in Queens.
The incident happened about 12:30 a.m. on Van Cleef Street in Corona, the NYPD said.
As the cab driver pulled up to the destination, the suspect, identified as 53-year-old William Smith, refused to pay the fare and instead tried to rob the driver, police said.
When the driver refused to hand over money, police said Smith slashed the driver in the neck and back.
Smith then allegedly fled on foot without any cash, but police said he left behind a wallet and cellphone.
The victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center in stable condition, police said.
Now, based on evidence left inside the cab, the NYPD said, investigators are seeking to determine whether Smith is connected to the slashing death of another man in Manhattan on Friday.
In that case, police said officers who were called to a homeless shelter on East 30th Street near First Avenue in Kips Bay just before 8:30 a.m. found a 56-year-old man unconscious with a slash wound to his neck. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Anyone with information regarding the two slashings is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-8477.
