A man who was sleeping in a Queens subway car stabbed two thieves who tried to take his bags early Sunday, killing one of them, sources familiar with the incident said.
The bloody scene unfolded across two train cars on a Manhattan-bound No. 7 train at about 12:30 a.m.
The alleged stabber, a 69-year-old man, was dozing on the train, surrounded by his bags, when a group of five men approached him, sources said.
The group started taking the man’s bags as the train approached the 61st St. and Woodside Ave. station in Woodside, sources said. That’s when the man woke up and tried to get his bags back, the sources said.
That led to a struggle, and the man pulled out a knife and stabbed two members of the group, the sources said. A 32-year-old man was stabbed in the chest and another man was slashed in the face. The entire scene was caught on subway surveillance cameras, the sources said.
Medics took both to Elmhurst Hospital, but the man stabbed in the chest couldn’t be saved, police said.
Cops took the stabber into custody, though prosecutors will have to determine what charges he’ll face or if he was acting in self defense, sources said.
The other three thieves ran off and were taken into custody about two blocks away, the sources said.
Police have not yet released the name of the deceased.