Homeless man charged with slashing stranger’s neck in NYC also attacked deli worker with chain just 24 hours before: prosecutors
The homeless man accused of senselessly slashing a 30-year-old man in the neck near the Astor Place Cube also attacked a deli worker with a chain just a day before the random assault, it was revealed in court Monday.
A chatty Steven Johnson, 35, was ordered held without bail on charges of attempted murder and assault by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Rachel Pauley for the string of unprovoked attacks in the East Village.
“Good afternoon, your honor. How you doing? Many blessings, many blessings,” Johnson said, while rocking back and forth, before he was cut off by his attorney.
Just 24 hours before the Astor Place attack, Johnson smashed a Saint Marks Place deli worker in the head with a chain after he was asked to leave the store for blocking the entrance, Assistant District Attorney Robert Wirtz charged.
The worker was left bloodied and required five stitches to the head in the June 5 caught-on-camera attack, prosecutors allege.
But the unhinged man’s rampage continued the next day when he slashed a stranger with a sharp object after approaching him from behind at Lafayette Square and Cooper Avenue just before 5:30 p.m. on June 6.
The victim suffered lacerations to his neck and shoulder, including a penetrating 21 centimeter long wound from his neck to his ear that required a three-hour surgery at Bellevue Hospital, prosecutors said.
Johnson was arrested in the East Village on June 8 and identified himself in surveillance images to cops based on his clothes — distinctly his camouflaged pants — that he wore during the attacks, according to a criminal complaint.
Prosecutors asked the judge to set $250,000 bail based on Johnson’s criminal history — which includes three prior arrests, a misdemeanor conviction for assault and one failure to appear in court.
Johnson’s attorney, Russ Novack, was asked by the judge if his client had any means to make bail, but the homeless man doesn’t have a job.
“Literally, the only thing he owns is the shirt on his back,” Novack said, while requesting that Johnson undergoes a mental health evaluation.
Johnson was also slapped with a theft of services charge for using the emergency gate at the Lexington Avenue and East 86th Street subway stop on June 8, according to a criminal complaint.
He faces a maximum of 25 years if convicted on the top charge of murder in the second degree.
Johnson’s next court appearance is June 14.
