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Deranged man hits four victims with wood plank this morning
A deranged man attacked four people around the neighborhood this morning, unprovoked, striking each of them with what police described as a wooden plank. Thanks to a good Samaritan who witnessed the last two attacks, he was caught by two transit officers and arrested. He is being uncooperative and will not give police his ID, so information on him is not available until his prints are traced.
His rampage started at Gold and Beekman this morning — the first 911 call came in at 8:20 — when he approached a woman in her 30s and struck her on the head with the plank. She was able to walk herself into Downtown Hospital in stable condition.
The next victim was a 28-year-old man who was at Nassau and Beekman when he was hit with the plank. He then called 911 and also walked himself into Downtown Hospital to be treated.
The third 911 call came within 15 minutes of the first, from the corner of Church and Warren, where two people — unrelated to each other — were struck. The victims were a 64-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man; both were treated at the scene by EMS and refused further attention. As police officers were interviewing the victims, a witness spotted the perpetrator, flagged down two transit officers who happened to be nearby, and a foot chase ensued, with the man being apprehended still holding the stick he had used as a weapon.
A neighbor who witnessed the attacks on Church said the perpetrator was a homeless man whom she has seen around the neighborhood many times. She added that the female victim’s face was bloodied.
Charges are pending as police trace the man’s identity.
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Thank you to our “unhoused neighbor” for his neighborly conduct.
I was also chased by this man with my dog and had to hop in a police car. I demanded to be let out of the police car at chambers and church so the two police offers in the car could handle this man. They promised me they would and when i left the car they went the other direction and didn’t manage the issue.
I failed to get their information as they should be reported. It was clear they were scared for their own safety and let’s call it what it is, they were cowards. Because of them the 64 year old woman and 70 year old man were struck. He should have been stopped at church and warren but they failed to do so. It was unacceptable, I’m still infuriated.
Would add that in the past month our household has walked by an “unhoused neighbor” exposing himself and urinating in front of us on Broadway, another defecating in front of a tree in City Hall Park, and yet another attempting to block the local subway exit and assault our older parents visiting from out of town.
While I have empathy for each “unhoused” human that has, I’m sure, a tragic individual backstory that has led to such a sad outcome for him/her, as a policy matter we simply cannot allow a few hundred people to tarnish and render unappealing an otherwise wonderful (and environmentally sustainable) urban lifestyle for millions of other humans.
You never post my comment, so hopefully this one makes the grade… it’s amazing how much we put up with. Nationwide cities have been taken over and no one fights back. The only one’s fighting are the crazies.
I was followed down the street by another character this afternoon, who was screaming incoherent nonsense and frantically gesticulating at me. After I ignored him long enough, he went screaming at others up and down the street. Everyone else who got to enjoy this personalized attention also just tried to pretend nothing was happening and ignore this (while everyone was probably just as concerned as I was that the verbal assault might suddenly become a physical assault)… which is disturbing in and of itself. We have accepted this as “normal” everyday experience in NYC, about which nothing can be done?
There is another local homeless man who camps out in front of different buildings, lighting various things on fire for hours, strewing trash around, and sometimes throwing things at passersby.
Do you guys remember when the homeless lady had a whole studio apartment at West Broadway and Reade under the scaffold? She even had her own Easybake Oven like it was a real kitchen. I say all of this to say that this was about 13-15 years ago. The neighborhood has had a robust homeless presence for the almost 20 years I worked there.
Im sure the city will reward him with a debit card and set him free… this city is worse by the day… and our taxes used for what??
Hi Richard, no that’s for the 54,000 plus migrants that are coming in every day. When our own homeless mentally ill are assaulting us on the streets, trains and wherever else. NY is not a safe place to live. Criminals have more rights than citizens who live here. I go to work on edge every day worried about getting attacked. I would not advise my kids to raise families here. We need mental health facilities. Cops need to do their jobs. Many have left becasue of bail reform. To many migrants coming in when we can’t help our own veterans and homeless.
exactly…our city is a joke. go shoot someone in the head in front of cop and no bail. this lady and i dont care about human rights or anything when this shit happens anymore. lock them up somewhere far away and never let them out. its not acceptable. mayor and whole state is run by morons…
this person will be out 100% in the same area and will do same thing again but maybe this time kill someone and still be let out. fix our system
Watch the documentary “Gotham: The Fall and Rise of New York” for a sense of the depths the City was in the 70s and 80s and how Guilliani & Bloomberg made it a safe and livable city to raise children and enjoy life without being on edge. It’s on Amazon, YouTube, Apple TV and other streaming services.
I imagine it’ll be a revelation for those who only moved here since the late 1990s.
For those that want to actually do something to stem the degradation of our city further here’s a suggestion – start by speaking up about how absurd liberal democratic policies are in public and point to the obvious failings of those policies in cities we all know. Tell your righteous neighbors who comment that AOC is laudable that they are quite insane; use 58 arrest rap sheet, public defecating maniacs as example if necessary. Don’t hold back because they are indignant squeaky wheels and think it’s cool to defund law enforcement and not prosecute criminals. Then, if you insist on voting democrat, vote for the absolute most conservative right leaning practical candidate you can find, if one should exist.
Otherwise it might take a plank to the head on church street before you wake up and smell the music.
Sadly it seems the city will have to go through a lot more pain before things swing in a new direction. Wannabe elites are too brainwashed to even entertain a different point of view.
I miss Bloomberg and Guliani. They were no nonsense and quality of life was so much better. I blame Diblasio, and all those Libertards who have corrupted this city with hiring base on nepotism and unqualified people. Please show up to the next Quality of Life Community Board meeting to discuss this in lengths. Closed mouths do not get fed, and if we keep ranting on this platform, NOTHING WILL EVER GET DONE!.
Republican voters are to blame.
Now Eric Adams says 60 days than the migrants live on our streets. Just like San Francisco. We blaming Republican’s for this really? Stop being brainwashed by this evil party which is no longer the Democrat party which I am a part of. Step up our city is crumbling.
Easy to complain, impossible to find viable solutions. Break up stop encampments, no one will go to the shelter, only 3 get housed, the rest are back on the street or subway in the day.
Without affordable housing, maybe a right to shelter like some European countries, & meaningful mental health services, will never solve the problem.
I am no “bleeding heart,“ having been assaulted twice by homeless men, but complaining & saying we need to lock everyone up turns our jails into unmanageable places with a high percentage of mentally ill and no services.
The real estate interests have to help solve this problem, or things will only get worse.
Adams lacks the intellectual capacity to solve complex problems.
I can’t believe it: a sane response.
Amen
So true. Problem is the real estate interests are not in line with the needs. Should they be? Who knows. Status quo for them with tax abatements to build luxury housing. And their requirement by the city for a portion of developments to be affordable housing is a joke. 50,000 people on average applying for 100 units or less in the housing lotteries. Tough situation.
Finally someone speaking truths.
It was me and my son that chased him for 5 blocks
And flagged down police
Can’t stand the way this city is going downhill