MANHATTAN — Police arrested a teen Tuesday for slashing a busboy across the left cheek after the victim kicked him out of Silver Spurs restaurant, they said.
Investigators got a tip and apprehended Dominico Howington, 16, Tuesday, NYPD officials said.
Howington had been asking diners in Silver Spurs, 490 LaGuardia Place, to donate money to his basketball team, prompting busboy Bobby Barbot to try to escort him out about 8 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
Police released footage showing the suspect, wearing a bubble jacket and hoodie, along with another teen entering another restaurant. (NYPD)
The teen took a swing at Barbot, who is trained in mixed martial arts and hit back, knocking the teen to the ground, Barbot said.
Howington left and returned with a box cutter and slashed Barbot across the cheek in the vestibule of the restaurant, Barbot said.
"I didn't feel nothing. I heard the blade smack my cheek. I just feel lucky he didn't hit my neck," Barbot told DNAinfo.
Bobby Barbot, left, was recuperating at home after the attack at Silver Spurs, right. (Instagram and DNAinfo/William Mathis)
"I was never scared. I was just shocked when I felt my hand touch my face and it was full of blood," he added.
The busboy got 147 stitches at Bellevue Hospital after the attack, he said.
Howington faces charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
Earlier Tuesday Barbot said he was satisfied that his suspected assailant had been taken into police custody.
"I’m very happy because the cops did the work they had to do," he said. "I would have never been happy if they never did anything."
He will go back to the doctor on Feb. 25 to see if he can get his stitches removed and cautioned New Yorkers to be cautious given the spate of slashings that have been happening around the city.
"Be alert, be safe and look around your surroundings," he said. "That’s all I can say."
Additional reporting by Julia Bottles.
