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Chelsea Slashing Victim Says She Should Have Trusted Gut About Attacker

By  Ben Fractenberg and Rachelle Blidner | January 6, 2016 7:07pm | Updated on January 7, 2016 7:51am

MANHATTAN — The victim of a Chelsea slashing attack said she should have trusted her intuition about the stranger who assaulted her at random.

Amanda Lynn Morris, 24, posted on Facebook that she was slashed on her face as she walked to work on West 23rd Street near Seventh Avenue about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday. Her face was gashed from her nose ring to her mouth, photos show.

Video footage shows Morris and the man, Kari Bazemore, 41, walking side by side under scaffolding for a few seconds before the man slashes her face and runs away.

Someone recognized Bazemore from surveillance footage, spotting him near St. Patrick's Cathedral about 12 hours after the attack and alerting nearby mounted police, who arrested him on assault and weapons charges.

On Facebook, Morris said she'd never seen her attacker before, and that the slashing was unprovoked.

“Today was a difficult day that I never thought I would have to go through,” Morris wrote about 1:22 p.m.

Today was a difficult day that I never thought I would have to go through, I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong...

Posted by Amanda Lynn Morris on Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Morris said she decided to come forward to tell people to “always, always trust your gut” about people on the street and to “always stay alert and aware of your surroundings,” even “in a safer neighborhood such as Chelsea.”

“I want everyone to know that I did have a bad feeling about this man as soon as I saw him,” she wrote. “His walk was irregular and he appeared under the influence by his body language and stance.”

“Had I crossed the street this could have been avoided; never feel that you have to stay in an uncomfortable situation out of politeness/fear/etc.”

Malibu Diner Manager Ruben Garcia said Morris sought help in the 24-hour restaurant.

"She was shaking, scared. She was bleeding from her face," Garcia said. “It's scary to think that anyone could do that to you. I work here all night.”

Morris — who is from British Columbia and lives in Brooklyn, according to her Facebook profile — called on the public’s help to identify the man because surveillance video of him did not show his face.  

Bazemore, who lives in Fordham, wore a red NBA sports jacket, a green hoodie, black pants with white stripes and white sneakers, police said.

Garcia said that after Morris entered the diner, she sought treatment at a nearby health clinic but it was closed. They then went to a supermarket on West 24 Street for first aid supplies.

Morris was later treated at Bellevue Hospital, where she got stitches and was released, police said.