Home News Man, 25, clobbered in head by stranger in unprovoked Chelsea street attack

Man, 25, clobbered in head by stranger in unprovoked Chelsea street attack


A 25-year-old man was struck in the head with a bag by a stranger in an apparently random attack on a Manhattan street, cops said Tuesday.

The caught-on-video attack in Chelsea was at least the fourth unprovoked assault in the city in the past week.

The victim, sporting a backpack, was walking down Seventh Ave. when a lanky man lunged toward him near W. 23rd St. about 10:50 a.m. Monday, video of the incident obtained by ABC7 New York shows.

The victim winced and reared back just as the stranger, believed to be about 50, swung a plastic shopping bag in the air, striking the pedestrian in the head, the video shows. The assailant then ran off and has not been caught.

The victim was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was treated for a deep cut to the back of his head and released.

A 25-year-old man was randomly attacked by a stranger while walking down Seventh Ave. near W. 23rd St. in Manhattan on Monday, May 13, 2024.
A 25-year-old man was randomly attacked by a stranger while walking down Seventh Ave. near W. 23rd St. in Manhattan on Monday, May 13, 2024.

While the assault appears random cops were trying to determine if the two men, who are strangers, had a brief interaction before this occurred.

Over the last week there have been at least four apparently random attacks in the city, beginning last Wednesday when someone whalloped “Boardwalk Empire” actor Steve Buscemi as he walked along Third Ave. in Kips Bay.

A 25-year-old man was randomly attacked by a stranger while walking down Seventh Ave. near W. 23rd St. in Manhattan on Monday, May 13, 2024.
A 25-year-old man was randomly attacked by a stranger while walking down Seventh Ave. near W. 23rd St. in Manhattan Monday.

The attack took place around 11:50 a.m. near E. 27th St., cops said. Medics took the “Fargo” actor to Bellevue Hospital, where he was treated for bruising, swelling and bleeding to his left eye.

On Friday afternoon in Harlem, a stranger stormed up and struck an 11-year-old girl with a box cutter for no apparent reason, cutting through the child’s long black hair and slashing the back of the pre-teen’s head.

Shaquan Cummings was arrested after Malgorzata Sladek, the child’s outraged mother, and a mob of witnesses cornered Cummings in a doorway near E. 116th St. and Lexington Ave. Several cops saved Cummings from the mob and charged the assailant with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and weapon possession. He was ordered held without bail when he was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Saturday.

Malgorzata Sladek was walking through East Harlem with her daughter Maxi (right) on Friday afternoon when Shaquan Cummings (left) stormed up and struck the child with a box cutter, cutting through her long black hair and slashing the back of the pre-teen's head. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News; Courtesy of Malgorzata Sladek)
Malgorzata Sladek was walking through East Harlem with her daughter Maxi (right) on Friday afternoon when Shaquan Cummings (left) allegedly stormed up and struck the child with a box cutter. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News; Courtesy of Malgorzata Sladek)

On Saturday, 36-year-old Amber Lohr was knifed in the chest in Times Square as she chaperoned a group of students from western Pennsylvania.

Lohr stumbled backwards from the 6:15 p.m. attack outside the Port Gourmet Deli near W. 43rd St. and Eighth Ave. but managed to protect the children she was watching from any harm.

The accused attacker, Cyril Destin, sat back down and was taken into custody. Destin was hospitalized after his arrest. His arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court was pending Tuesday.

Tourists Amber Lohr and her teen daughter were visiting New York City from western Pennsylvania and shopping for a souvenir near the corner of W. 43rd St. and Eighth Ave. in Manhattan on Saturday, May 11, 2024, when Amber Lohr was stabbed by Cyril Destin. (Obtained by Daily News)
Amber Lohr and her teen daughter were visiting Manhattan from western Pennsylvania and shopping for a souvenir near W. 43rd St. and Eighth Ave. in Manhattan on Saturday when Lohr was stabbed by a stranger. (Obtained by Daily News)

Just last month cops investigated a spree of unprovoked attacks on women, some of which were detailed on Tik Tok.

On April 23, cops arrested Daquan Armstead, 31, for a violent spree of unprovoked attacks, which began on Feb. 12 and continued until a week before his arrest, police said.

He was charged with multiple counts of assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment for targeting women in Greenwich Village, Tribeca, the Lower East Side and the Bowery.

With Rocco Parascandola

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