EAST VILLAGE — Police have released video of the suspect who slashed a pedestrian's face over the weekend.
The victim, a 30-year-old man from Newark, New Jersey, needed 150 stitches to close a gash that ran from his ear to mouth after the suspect came up behind him as he was walking on East Sixth Street near Cooper Union Saturday around 4:30 p.m. on his way to dinner with a friend, police said.
“I had my earbuds on. I wasn’t listening. I was playing on my phone and walking ahead,” the victim told CBS New York.
“There was no conversation; no anything beforehand. It just happened out of the blue — the damn strangest thing,” he added. “I hope they catch him soon, because he’s a danger.”
The suspect also cut the victim in the back, police said.
Police rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital, where he received the stitches, an NYPD spokeswoman previously told DNAinfo New York.
The victim underwent eight hours of plastic surgery, CBS New York reported, and he might regain the ability to smile by the summer.
Robert Boyce, the NYPD's chief of detectives, said during a press conference on Wednesday that police were showing images of the suspect to locals who may be able to help with the investigation. He said the incident "seems to be random" and that police haven't connected the suspect to any other crimes.
Police said the suspect was a 5-foot-6 man between 20 to 30 years old, weighing about 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black, waist-length bomber-style jacket, black skull cap, black pants and black boots, according to the NYPD.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS or visit its website.
