Man arrested in Christmas Eve attack on 2 people at Manhattan’s Grand Central

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This article was published 25/12/2024 (268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man accused of using a knife to slash a man and a woman in Manhattan’s Grand Central subway station faced assault and menacing charges Wednesday.

The man was arrested on assault, reckless endangerment, menacing, harassment, disorderly conduct and a weapons charge after the attack at 10:15 p.m. Tuesday which left a 42-year-old man with an injured wrist and a 26-year-old woman with a neck injury, police said.

Both victims were in stable condition at Bellevue Hospital after the attack and on Wednesday, police said.

It was not immediately known who will represent the man in court.

The attacks came amid heightened concerns about crime in the subways, particularly after the arrest Sunday of a man charged with setting a woman on fire on a subway car. The woman died from her injuries.

Mayor Eric Adams told reporters in Harlem that the man had suffered from a history of mental illness.

The New York Post reported that the woman who was slashed said she had just gotten off the No. 4 train and was heading to work when she was attacked.

The newspaper quoted her as saying that she was punched to the ground as her assailant repeatedly yelled, “what’s your problem?” before he lunged at her with a small knife, cutting through her throat.

The attack came just hours after the man accused of burning a woman to death inside a New York City subway train appeared in Brooklyn criminal court to face two murder charges.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was not required to enter a plea and did not speak at the hearing in Brooklyn criminal court.

Zapeta, held at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex, is expected back in court on Friday. So far, his lawyer has not requested bail.