A Queens woman seriously hurt after police said she jumped from her third-story window to get away from her troubled, knife-wielding son was so fearful of him, she developed a secret knock to let her neighbor know if she was in danger, a building resident said.
The victim, 64, who has not been publicly identified, had an order of protection against her son at the time she took her terrifying plunge, police said Saturday, and neighbors described a long, contentious history between the two.
Multiple neighbors said the son has mental issues, and that it wasn’t uncommon to hear the pair yelling at each other.
“They are always arguing,” said one woman who had described the mom’s secret lifeline to her neighbor. “It’s not uncommon to hear noise over there.”
When the mother was scared, she tapped out a distress call to the next door neighbor, who would call 911 for her, the woman added.
“When the neighbor heard her knocking, she called 911,” said the resident, who asked to remain anonymous. “She said she saw [the mom] going out [the window].”
She was found sprawled face down on the ground outside her Shore Boulevard apartment around 9 p.m. Friday, cops and neighbors said.
The mother suffered multiple broken bones, including her leg, and a brain bleed among other injuries, her daughter told The Post.
“My mother, she’s stabilized, but she needs to go through surgeries, and the doctor said it’s too early to tell, but she didn’t just break legs, she broke her femur, her leg, her shoulder, multiple face fractures,” the daughter said. “She has internal bleeding in her stomach. She had a brain bleed but they took care of it.”
Brigitte Stelzer
“He is a monster,” the sister said of her brother.
Police believed her son was still inside and armed with a knife when they arrived, so began trying to establish communications with him, cops said. But by the time they got inside, he had escaped.
He was still being sought for questioning in the incident late Saturday.
The son has nearly 60 prior arrests on his record, 18 of them are sealed, police sources said.
He was last arrested in July 2024 for allegedly shoplifting at a nearby TJ Maxx twice, on March 24 and May 20, the source said. He threatened to strike an employee with brass knuckles in one of the incidents and was charged with robbery, the sources added.
He allegedly stole about $1,000 worth of merchandise, including sneakers and purses, the sources said.
A man who identified himself as her son claimed to The Post he was “miles away” when his mom took her terrifying plunge.
“I’m in a state of shock,” he said. “I heard from miles and miles away. I’m surprised, I’m surprised that happened to her.”
“I heard she fell but I don’t know if it’s a severe fall, if it’s a minute or big fall,” he said. “Somebody said she just broke her leg. Somebody telling she’s in a coma. I can’t find out exactly what happened to her because she got an order of protection on me.”
He denied being home when his mother was injured.
“I could have been there a few days ago, maybe, but not at the time of the alleged incident,” he said.
He hung up when a reporter asked about the reason for the protective order.
