A homeless man who slashed a stranger in a random attack in the East Village’s Astor Place left the victim with 8-inch neck scar — a day after drawing blood when he struck a restaurant worker with a bike chain, prosecutors said Monday.
Steven Johnson, 35, was ordered held without bail during his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court. Judge Rachel Pauley ordering he undergo a psychiatric exam.
Johnson was busted Saturday and charged with attempted murder and assault.
NYPD
Astor Place slashing suspect Steven Johnson. (NYPD)
He allegedly slashed a 30-year-old man standing at Astor Place and Lafayette St. near the Astor Place Cube early Thursday evening, Assistant District Attorney Robert Wirtz said, describing the cut as 20 centimeters, which is more than eight inches.
“There was nothing going on, no altercation. Suddenly, he was down on the ground holding his neck,” witness Michael Picadi, 25, told the Daily News after the attack. “He was in the fetal position in a huge pool of blood.”
Police later released photos of the wanted suspect and linked him to an earlier caught-on-camera attack. On Wednesday, he allegedly struck a 49-year-old man in the face with a bike chain after the victim complained about Johnson sleeping in front of a St. Mark’s Place Korean restaurant. The victim needed five stitches to close the wound. Johnson is charged in that assault as well.
Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News
A pool of blood is seen on the ground after the slashing. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News)
Wirtz said the suspect wore the same clothes during both assaults — and was wearing the same outfit when he was arrested.
Wirtz asked for $250,000 bail, an amount Johnson’s Legal Aid lawyer, Russell Novack, said the suspect has no chance of ever raising.
“No means, literally no means,” Novack said. “All he owns is the shirt on his back.”
Pauley then ordered Johnson held without bail.
