Dual Arrests: Man Tries to Rob Woman at 49th St. Subway Stop, Vigilante Shoots at Robber
After failing to snatch a woman’s purse at the 49th St. subway station on November 7, 49 year-old Matthew Roesch was arrested and charged with attempted robbery. The scene had escalated even further after 43 year-old John Rote–who had a B&H Electronics bag slung over his shoulder–allegedly discharged a firearm in Roesch’s direction. Rote, a Queens resident, was arrested the next day and hit with charges including reckless endangerment.
| 12 Nov 2023 | 04:52
John Rote, a 43 year-old Queens resident that NYPD officers claim allegedly shot at 49 year-old Matthew Roesch, after the latter was seen sticking up a woman at the 49th St. subway station. (
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An attempted robbery dramatically escalated into a Wild West scenario at the 49th St. subway station (serving the N, R and W lines), after a bystander with his own idea of the law subjected fellow passengers to what the NYPD is calling “reckless endangerment.”
Cops claim that on the evening of November 7, John Rote allegedly pulled out a gun and shot at 49 year-old Matthew Roesch, who was reportedly threatening a middle-aged woman on the platform and demanding her purse. Roesch, who is known to police, was arrested and charged with attempted robbery. He was not injured. The episode occurred just after 9 p.m. on the subway’s uptown platform.
Rote, 43, was apprehended by police on November 8. The Queens resident was hit with a bevy of charges, including: Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Possession of a Firearm, and Menacing.
At a press conference addressing the incident, New York City Transit president Richard Davey noted that the video of the shooting was “very unusual.” He clarified that “the shooter looks very calm, pulls out a gun, fires two shots and calmly puts the gun back in a bag and walks away...that’s not what we need. Weapons shouldn’t be on the streets of New York, but they are.”