- Jane Duncan, 52, was taking a walk through the West Village when she claims ‘Matthew’ approached her on February 4 with a ‘knife’ in hand
- As he yelled at her and grabbed something shiny, she started coughing and told him she was on her way to the ER for COVID-19.
A 52-year-old New York woman has shared her creative tactics for dealing with robbers roaming the streets – without any violence involved.
Jane Duncan was taking a walk through the West Village when she claims a man who had “threatened to stab people several times in recent weeks” approached her on February 4 with a “knife” in hand.
According to Duncan, the man reportedly named Matthew jumped right in front of her and shouted, “Why are you bothering me?”
She then saw him allegedly reaching for something shiny and shouted back: ‘I have Covid. Stay away from me. I’m on my way to the emergency room, fake coughing around him.
Duncan then said that after she continued to cough, he quickly walked away from her.
Jane Duncan was taking a walk through the West Village when she claims a man who had “threatened to stab people several times in recent weeks” approached her on February 4 with a “knife” in hand.
According to Duncan, the man reportedly named Matthew jumped right in front of her and shouted, “Why are you bothering me?”
In her Facebook post, she described Matthew as: “Runs around fast and screams in people’s faces while pulling out a knife. He is almost completely bald, but has very long black hair at the back.
She later told the New York Post that the two had never crossed paths before “which makes her think it’s not just that he’s violent, it’s also that he’s mentally ill – like he needs to hear voices.”
Duncan said she had been using COVID defenses for some time to ward off the rising number of vagrants in her neighborhood.
‘This used to be a real froufrou area. But I’ve noticed that people are becoming more and more aggressive when it comes to cheating, to the point where they’ll practically attack you,” said the troubled New Yorker.
Duncan had already filed a report against Matthew with the NYPD’s 6th Precinct, but did not receive much support.
“They kept asking, ‘Are you sure it was a knife?'” she recalls.
“I’m not an idiot, I know what a knife looks like,” she told the Post.
Matthew also apparently told the Post that he was homeless and sleeping on the streets.
She soon saw Matthew again on February 9 and called officers. In an updated post on Nextdoor.com, Duncan said police did not search him for weapons, but instead asked him “how he was doing.”
She soon saw Matthew again on February 9 and called officers. In an updated Nextdoor.com afterDuncan said police did not search him for weapons, but instead asked him “how he was doing.”
‘I am a big supporter of people who struggle with mental health problems. I would like to see him get mental health care instead of being arrested.
I saw Matthew sleeping today, February 9th. I called the police. Six officers arrived within ten minutes. They were very nice, but said their hands were tied because he didn’t pull a knife on me today.
‘I asked if they could confiscate his gun. They said they were not allowed to search him. So they said if he pulls a knife on me again or uses it on me to call 911 again.
‘They spoke to Matthew briefly to say hello and ask how he was doing. Matthew then walked away. Apparently they know him well, as most people in this thread do,” she wrote on the neighborhood social networking service.
Duncan suggested a solution to the problem, saying, “What I want is reform. I don’t think it’s the right decision to arrest and release him. I think we need a system that includes mental health care.”
It is unclear whether Duncan was arrested by police before this incident.