Homeless man charged with attempted murder in random slashing of 30-year-old’s neck near Astor Place Cube
A homeless man has been nabbed for randomly slashing a 30-year-old victim in the neck near the Astor Place Cube, cops said.
Steven Johnson, 35, was cuffed and slapped with attempted murder and assault charges on Saturday in the wake of last week’s bloodied attack, the NYPD said.
The unprovoked ordeal unfolded when Johnson allegedly approached the man from behind at Lafayette Square and Cooper Avenue just before 5.30 pm Thursday.
He is accused of then slashing the victim in the neck with what cops described as an “unknown sharp object.”
Shocked witnesses said the victim quickly ripped off his own shirt to stem the blood flow as he desperately tried to treat his gushing wound.
“Gentleman was on the floor holding his neck, blood everywhere. Hunched over. Shirtless. Holding the back of his neck. Very big pool of blood,” one witness, Michael Picardi, told ABC7 in the aftermath.
The broad daylight slashing came completely out of the blue, he added.
“Right before, nothing. Yeah, no altercation. Just exploded out of nowhere,” Picardi said.
Johnson, who fled the vicinity immediately after the slashing, was arrested in the East Village on Saturday night, police said.
His last known address was a homeless shelter in Midtown, according to cops.
The victim was treated in the hospital in the wake of the attack.
