NEW YORK CITY — The man who attacked police with an 11-inch meat cleaver near Penn Station and slashed an off-duty detective’s face in September was indicted, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
Akram Joudeh, 32, pulled out the meat cleaver after two officers caught him trying to remove a boot on his car, parked on the corner of Broadway and West 30th Street around 4:40 p.m. on Sept. 15, the DA said.
Officers Robert Moti and Douglas LaPenta chased Joudeh who fled down West 32nd Street toward Sixth Avenue and;Brian O’Donnell, an off-duty detective walking toward Penn Station at the end of his shift, the DA said.
O'Donnell tried to stop the man but Joudeh struck him in the face with the cleaver and left a 6-inch long gash, police said.
Joudeh was shot several times by police, the DA said.
“I thank the members of the NYPD who bravely pursued this defendant as he ran through Midtown with a deadly weapon,” said District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “Because of their courage, Joudeh was stopped before he could harm anyone else.”
Joudeh was charged with attempted murder, assault, menacing a police officer and criminal possession of a weapon in New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday and could face up to 25 years in prison, the DA said.
Joudeh is next scheduled to appear in Queens Criminal Court to be arraigned on Oct. 21 for criminal possession of handcuffs and for his unlawful presence in a park after hours, court documents show.
Joudeh is a Jordanian national who once smashed what he thought was an undercover NYPD vehicle with a wooden post.
His lawyer was not immediately available to comment.
