MANHATTAN — A man accused of slashing a 2-year-old and four other people in Riverside Park has been charged Wednesday with attempted murder, prosecutors said.
Julius Graham, 43, was arraigned Wednesday from Bellevue Medical Center, where he has been held since the attacks in Riverside Park on Oct. 1.
Police said Graham went on a 9-minute rampage, slashing the 2-year-old, his ballet dancer dad and another three people with a broken pair of scissors until a good Samaritan wrestled him to the ground near West 62nd Street.
Police said Graham had been staying at a Bronx homeless shelter before the attacks, and had a history of mental illness. Witnesses said he looked blank during the attacks, "like a zombie."
He was arraigned by video link from the hospital and charged with assault and attempted murder, officials said.
He was ordered held without bail. He is due back in court Oct. 29.
During the 9-minute spree, Graham, a Texas native, first stabbed a 36-year-old jogger in her back, dislocating her shoulder, police said.
He moved on to slash a 36-year-old man who was walking his dog, then stabbed a 32-year-old woman in the neck, police said.
Graham's spree ended with his attack on 35-year-old James Fayette, a former New York City Ballet dancer who was pushing a stroller carrying his son, Luke, police said. Fayette lunged between his son and Graham and was slashed in the chest, witnesses said.
Graham also slashed Luke's arm, police said.
Good Samaritan Thomas Ciriacks, who was walking his dogs in the park at the time of the attack, wrestled Graham to the ground, police said.
Ciriacks — who stands 6-feet-3 and weighs 201 pounds — pinned Graham for about five minutes until police took him into custody, Ciriacks said.
"I was just focused on [Graham], making sure that he didn't leave," Ciriacks said. "I told him what would happen if he moved."
