A 24-year-old man was arrested in connection with a spree of attacks this week in which he slashed or punched five people over a 20-minute span across lower Manhattan, New York City police said Friday.
Police had been hunting for Derrick McLeod since the attacks early Wednesday morning. He was arrested Thursday at a housing project in East Harlem and police recovered a box cutter, which they believe he used to slash three of the victims, police said.
Charges, including five counts of assault and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon, against Mr. McLeod were pending.
Mr. McLeod, who lives in Brooklyn and has been treated for “emotional issues,” has been arrested 30 times as an adult and is currently on probation, Manhattan Chief of Detectives William Aubry said.
“He’s a violent and troubled individual,” Chief Aubry said.
The incidents took place over a 20-minute span that began at 1:10 a.m. Wednesday on an F subway train near the Broadway-Lafayette stop and ended in Union Square.
Police determined that Mr. McLeod left a friend’s house in Brooklyn and boarded an F train around 12:30 a.m., police said.
The suspect first punched a 24-year-old woman who had been riding the train with him as it pulled into the Broadway-Lafayette station, Chief Aubry said.
Mr. McLeod then left the train and boarded a northbound No. 6 train and, at 1:18 a.m., slashed a 31-year-old man in the face.
Around 1:20 a.m., he punched a 20-year-old woman in the face who was leaving the Union Square train station, Chief Aubry said.
Around 1:27 a.m., Mr. McLeod asked a 46-year-old man for $2 and was slashed in the face when he refused, Chief Aubry.
At about 1:29 a.m., Mr. McLeod slashed a 59-year-old man in the right side of the face after he refused to give him money, Chief Aubry said.
Great. One more piece of garbage off the streets.