Teen critically injured in subway stabbi...

Teen critically injured in subway stabbi...

Vic Nicastro for New York Daily News

Detectives search for evidence on the Fordham Road subway station platform after 19-year-old Alexander Herald was stabbed on the  No. 4 train.

A 19-year-old was brutally stabbed early Saturday morning after c onfronting a man he suspected of stealing his cell phone while he slept on the No. 4 train in the Bronx, cops said.

Police sources said Alexander Herald of Brooklyn and his friend fell asleep on the train after leaving the Woodlawn station. When Herald awoke, he found that his cell phone was gone.

As the train entered the Fordham Road station about 4 a.m., Herald noticed a man on the train holding the stolen phone.

So, he and his friend confronted the suspected thief, who pulled a knife on them, the sources said.

Heralds friend ran to tell a token booth clerk to call 911. But when he returned, he found Herald on the platform, stabbed multiple times in the body and head.

Herald was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in critical condition. Cops were still searching for the suspect and his female companion.

Its devastating, said Heralds shocked sister Ashleyrose Herald, 20. Its just devastating. They need to have cameras on the train in this day and age.

Reached by phone, she said her family learned of the attack late in the afternoon and was headed to the hospital. There were severe puncture wounds to the neck, chest and stomach, she said.

It wasnt clear if there was surveillance footage from the train platform. But cops were checking to see if surrounding businesses caught images of the assailant.

Herald appeared sedated as hospital staffers tended to his wounds in his room in the intensive care ward.

Hes strong. Hell get through this, Heralds cousin Chris Clarke, 21, said.

Clarke, a Bronx barista, blinked back tears as he stared at his cousin, whose face and head were a patchwork of stitches.

Herald was dressed in a hospital gown and much of his body was covered in white bandages, which were spotted with his blood.

He hasnt woken up all day, Clarke said. This is a tragedy.

The ghastly attack is the latest in a string of brutality over ele ctronics. Just Friday, two callous crooks were charged with shooting dead a Bronx chef to get his iPhone.

Dominick Davis and Alejandro Campos tried to sell Hwang Yangs smartphone on craigslist for $ 400, police said. Both suspects were waiting to be arraigned on Saturday.

With Henrick Karoliszyn

jkemp@nydailynews.com