Homeless man who allegedly slit a stranger’s throat in NYC also attacked a deli employee with a chain just 24 hours earlier

metro

From Kyle Schnitzer

As revealed in court on Monday, the homeless man accused of senselessly slashing a 30-year-old man in the neck near the Astor Place Cube had also attacked a deli employee with a chain just a day before the random attack.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Rachel Pauley ordered Steven Johnson, a talkative 35-year-old, held without bail on suspicion of attempted murder and assault in connection with a series of unprovoked attacks in the East Village.

“Good afternoon, Your Honor. How are you? Many blessings, many blessings,” Johnson said, rocking back and forth before being interrupted by his attorney.

Just 24 hours before the Astor Place attack, Johnson struck a Saint Marks Place deli clerk in the head with a chain after he was asked to leave the store for blocking the entrance, according to the indictment filed by Assistant District Attorney Robert Wirtz.

The worker was left bleeding and required five stitches to his head in the June 5 attack, which was captured on video, prosecutors allege.

But the mentally ill man’s rampage continued the next day when, shortly before 5:30 p.m. on June 6, he stabbed a stranger with a sharp object at the corner of Lafayette Square and Cooper Avenue after approaching him from behind.

The victim suffered lacerations to his neck and shoulder, including a 21-centimeter-long penetrating wound from his neck to his ear that required three hours of surgery at Bellevue Hospital, prosecutors said.

Johnson was arrested in the East Village on June 8. According to a criminal complaint, he identified himself to police in surveillance images based on the clothing he was wearing during the attacks, clearly visible in his camouflage pants.

Prosecutors asked the judge to set bail at $250,000 because of Johnson’s criminal record, including three previous arrests, an assault conviction and a failure to appear in court.

Johnson’s lawyer Russ Novack was asked by the judge if his client has the means to pay the bail, but the homeless man is unemployed.

“The only thing he has is literally the shirt on his back,” Novack said, demanding that Johnson undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

According to a criminal complaint, Johnson was also charged with theft of services for using the emergency exit at the Lexington Avenue and East 86th Street subway station on June 8.

If convicted of premeditated murder, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Johnson’s next court date is June 14.