UNION SQUARE — A hammer-wielding attacker bashed two women in the head in the Union Square area on Monday evening — and police believe the same suspect is involved in two other nearby hammer attacks earlier in the day, police said.
The suspect has yet to be caught, an NYPD spokesman said.
The man pulled a hammer from a bag inside the park about 7:36 p.m. and hit the head of a 28-year-old woman who was sitting on a bench there, NYPD officials said.
He fled the scene but 10 minutes later, he came up behind a 33-year-old woman outside 45 W. 17th St., near Sixth Avenue, and struck her, police said.
Police are also investigating another attack that happened earlier that day at 1:30 p.m., when a 20-year-old Brooklyn man was struck in the back of the head with a hammer near Sixth Avenue and West 35th Street.
At 5:10 p.m. a 34-year-old woman was struck in the head with a hammer near 27th St and Madison Ave., police said.
All victims had non-life-threatening injuries. Three victims were treated at Lenox Hill Hospital, police said. The women had been released as of Tuesday morning, police said.
The second woman did not see what weapon was used, but an NYPD spokesman said her injuries were consistent with a hammer attack.
The suspect from the Union Square attacks is in his 30s and wore a black waist-length jacket, dark baseball cap, dark jeans, black sneakers and a black backpack, officials said.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
