11-year-old migrant boy arrested over violent NYC phone robbery: sources

An 11-year-old immigrant boy was arrested after a robbery on a New York subway in which a subway strap attendant was hit in the head and his cell phone was stolen, NYPD and law enforcement sources said Wednesday.

Police sources said the baby-faced assailant and a 17-year-old boy were both arrested on suspicion of attacking the victim on a Manhattan-bound Platform 7 train near the Vernon Boulevard/Jackson Avenue station in Queens around 8:40 p.m. on Tuesday.

Sources said the victim enlisted the help of police to track the location of the phone, and the two suspects were arrested a few hours later near the Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter in Midtown Manhattan.

The teens were allegedly in possession of the stolen devices when they were arrested at about 10:15 p.m.

Police said the victim told officers the juvenile was the “primary aggressor” in the incident.

He was issued a juvenile assessment certificate and then released into the care of his guardian, police said.

The youngest suspect is a Venezuelan migrant, sources said, but it was not immediately clear whether he was staying at the Roosevelt Hotel shelter.

It is unclear whether the suspect, a 17-year-old boy, is also an immigrant.

Sources said he was detained following a report of a juvenile incident.