MANHATTAN — The Bronx man who randomly slashed a woman on her way to work in Chelsea on Wednesday morning was arrested about 12 hours later when someone recognized him near St. Patrick's Cathedral and alerted police, NYPD officials said.
Kari Bazemore, 41, who was released after randomly punching a woman on the street in December, now faces charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
Bazemore, of Fordham, was walking beside Amanda Lynn Morris, 24, under some scaffolding outside 163 W. 23rd St. about 6:15 a.m. when he suddenly slashed the left side of her face from her nose to her chin, she and police said.
She received stitches at Bellevue Hospital and was released, police said.
Morris took to Facebook about 1 p.m. to urge people come forward if they have information and to otherwise be wary of people they may think are dangerous.
Bazemore had fled the scene, but a man near St. Patrick's Cathedral recognized him from local news reports and alerted police, who arrested him, officials said.
Bazemore has been arrested about 32 times before, most recently for randomly punching a 32-year-old woman near Sixth Avenue and 12th Street, sources said. The right side of her face and eye were bruised and swollen after the attack, sources said.
He gave police a fake name, which he'd tried repeatedly in his previous arrests, sources said.
Prosecutors asked for $1,000 bail, but the judge released him, sources said.
He's also been arrested in the past for weapons possession, grand larceny, forcible touching, resisting arrest, marijuana possession and trespassing, police said.