Homeless man arrested for cutting near Astor Place Cube

Metro

By Émilie Grue

A homeless man was arrested for randomly punching a 30-year-old victim in the neck near the Astor Place Cube, cops said.

Steven Johnson, 35, was handcuffed and slapped Saturday on charges of attempted murder and assault following last week's bloody attack, New York police said.

The unprovoked ordeal unfolded when Johnson allegedly approached the man from behind at Lafayette Square and Cooper Avenue just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

He is accused of then hitting the victim in the neck with what cops described as an “unknown sharp object.”

Shocked witnesses said the victim quickly ripped off her own shirt to stem the blood flow as she desperately tried to treat her gushing wound.

“Gentleman was on the ground, holding his neck, blood everywhere. Leaning over. Shirtless. Holding the back of his neck. A very big pool of blood,” a witness, Michael Picardi, told ABC7 afterwards.

The daylight outages came out of nowhere, he added.

“Just before, nothing. Yeah, no altercation. I just exploded out of nowhere,” Picardi said.

Johnson, who fled the area immediately after the attack, was arrested in the East Village Saturday evening, police said.

His last known address was a homeless shelter in Midtown, according to cops.

The victim was treated in hospital following the attack.