Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Attacker Strikes Times Square Tourists in Face With Metal Clamp, NYPD Says

By Maya Rajamani | February 7, 2017 1:56pm
 An attacker randomly struck two tourists in the face with a metal clamp, leaving one of them with a cut that required five stitches, officials said.
An attacker randomly struck two tourists in the face with a metal clamp, leaving one of them with a cut that required five stitches, officials said.
View Full Caption
Twitter/TimesSquareNYC

TIMES SQUARE — A man randomly struck a pair of tourists in the face with a metal clamp in unprovoked attacks, leaving one victim with a cut that required five stitches, authorities said.

The first victim, a 62-year-old man, was walking on Seventh Avenue between West 51st and 52nd streets around 3:28 p.m. on Sunday when Elier Leon, 42, punched him in the face with the clamp on his fist, police and prosecutors said. 

A few minutes later, around 3:30 p.m., Leon hit a 37-year-old man in the face with the clamp near West 51st Street and Seventh Avenue, leaving him with a bloody nose, police and prosecutors said.

The clamp was “similar to those that stagehands employ to hang lights,” the New York Post reported.

The 62-year-old was taken to Mount Sinai West, where he received five stitches for a cut on his chin, the criminal complaint said.

When police officers tried to arrest Leon, he flailed his arms and legs “repeatedly,” leaving one of the officers with injuries to his knee and wrist, the Manhattan DA’s office said.

The officer was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital, the complaint said.

Leon was charged with three counts of second degree assault, one count of third degree assault and one count of resisting arrest, according to the complaint.

He is currently being held on $5,000 bail and is expected to next appear in court on Feb. 10, city Department of Correction records show.

An attorney for Leon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.