NYPD arrest man in connection with homeless stabbing incidents

CNN
 — 

New York police are searching for an assailant who they say stabbed three homeless men while they were sleeping, killing one of them, in separate incidents.

The attacker is believed to have used a large kitchen knife, officials said on Tuesday

“These are senseless acts on defenseless people experiencing homelessness, and somebody knows this person,” New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during a news conference.

The first attack happened on July 5, when a 34-year-old man, sleeping on a park bench, woke up with a pain in his stomach, NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said. After the attack, the man walked across the street, and a passerby called 911. The man was taken to a hospital, but he did not survive the attack.

Surveillance video showed a man wearing a black hoodie, bright neon sneakers and a gray backpack. It shows the suspect riding a Citi Bike the victim had used around the block, and then returning to stab the man, police said. The assailant also took the victim’s backpack and ditched it nearby, police added. The fatal stabbing wasn’t caught on camera.

On July 8, surveillance video caught the attacker staring at a 59-year-old man who was homeless for 30 minutes while he was sleeping, Essig said. Then the assailant put on a mask, stabbed the man and walked away, he added.

The third victim was stabbed early Monday morning while lying on a basketball court in a park near East 93rd Street and FDR Drive, Essig said. When the man woke up around 3:30 a.m., he said he felt a punch in his side and chased the attacker for a short distance but didn’t catch up because of his wound, Essig noted.

The attacks on people experiencing homelessness fit a similar pattern seen in March when victims who were homeless were targeted in a string of violent attacks.

Authorities in Washington, D.C., arrested Gerald Brevard who they have accused of shooting five homeless men – killing one – in five incidents spanning DC and New York City.

The assailant in the recent attacks used the subway to move around the city, and there is no indication yet that the attacker has left the city to prey on other homeless victims, Essig said.

Overall crime in New York City increased by 31% in June 2022 when compared to the same month last year, according to the statistics provided by the police department. Meanwhile, murders for June dropped, with 26 this past June, down from 38 in June 2021, the statistics showed.