NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A 41-year-old man was arrested in connection to an unprovoked slashing spree in the Times Square area Monday night into early Tuesday, police said Wednesday.
Luis D. Rosas, of Massachusetts, was charged with three counts of assault and one count of resisting arrest after Port Authority Police officers busted him at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown on Tuesday morning.
Investigators believe Rosas is responsible for a slashing spree that started around 9:15 p.m. Monday at W. 39th Street and Eighth Avenue, where he allegedly asked a 41-year-old man for a cigarette and then slashed him across the face.
Less than three hours later around 12:20 a.m., he slashed another man, also 41, across the face at W. 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, police said.
A third man was attacked just after 3 a.m. as he was walking out of the Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority subway station at Eighth Avenue and W. 40th Street. Rosas allegedly came up and slashed the victim across the face, leaving what police said was a “bad laceration.”
All three victims were taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. They’re all expected to survive.
Rosas was busted later Tuesday morning at the bus terminal, which is right across the street from the subway entrance where the last victim was slashed.
It’s not yet known what may have motivated the attacks, but police said they were unprovoked. Initially, police said Tuesday that the attacks weren’t believed to be connected.
A fourth slashing happened at W. 46th Street and Eighth Avenue around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, but it hasn’t been connected to Rosas.
The slashings came just two days after a Maine man allegedly attacked two NYPD officers with a machete near the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration on Saturday night.
The suspect, Trevor Bickford, 19, faces charges of attempted murder of police officers and attempted assault. Police are investigating if the attack was motivated by Islamic extremism.
Hours before the attack on the officers, a man was stabbed at W. 40th Street and Seventh Avenue in yet another assault near Times Square. The stabbing at 11 a.m. Saturday left the victim with non-life-threatening injuries.
Related
Related
Related
