Police have increased patrols at Piedmont Park after a man walking to the Midtown MARTA station was ambushed, stabbed and robbed early Saturday morning.
He was listening to music near Monroe Drive and did not hear a group of people come up behind him just after midnight, the victim, who was not identified, told Atlanta police.
The man felt someone grab him from behind by his neck and began to choke him before he was stabbed multiple times in the back, according to an incident report obtained by AJC.com. The man was taken to the ground as the group began kicking him in the head several times.
The victim told police he realized he was surrounded, and the attackers asked for his wallet, cellphone and the passcode to unlock it. On Reddit, the victim posted that he was mugged and stabbed before his robbers began demanding the items on him. He told AJC.com he wanted to remain anonymous.
In the moment, he couldn’t remember his passcode, so the suspects continued to kick him, the report said. Three suspects, who police believe were a woman and two men, then ran away.
The man, who was stabbed seven or eight times, was able to flag down a passerby, who then called 911, the report said. He was taken to Atlanta Medical Center, where he was described as stable. In his Reddit post, the man said he has a collapsed lung but will make a “full recovery.”
“I never thought something like this would happen to me ... even though I knew it happens to other people ... Atlanta is an awesome place to live, and if I could, I would live right across the street from Piedmont Park, despite what happened to me, because I obviously don't think this incident defines life in Atlanta,” the victim’s post said.
Police said in a news conference Monday afternoon they believe this incident is linked to a similar robbery nine days earlier.
In that attack on Peachtree Street near 4th Street, a man, who was visiting the city from California, was stabbed eight times and robbed, also by a woman and two men. Before the stabbing, he was having dinner at City Tap Restaurant with his supervisor when he went outside to smoke a cigarette about 10 p.m., according to the incident report.
That victim is now out of the hospital, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“We really don’t want this robbery to escalate into a murder situation,” APD Maj. Michael O’Connor told reporters. “... We really need to put an end to this before they kill somebody.”
