Knife-Wielding Maniac Goes on ‘Unprovoked’ NYC Stabbing Spree

A blood-covered lunatic toting two knives trekked across Manhattan in a savage broad-daylight stabbing spree that left a woman and two men dead Monday, cops said.

The sick suspected stabber – a mentally ill homeless man with eight past arrests in New York City alone – was stopped by a hero cop thanks to the help of good Samaritans, including a cab driver and a British tourist, said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny and police sources.

Ramon Rivera, 51, was identified by sources as the person of interest in custody, seen with a long beard and unwieldy hair in a grizzled mugshot obtained by The Post. {snip}

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The hours-long frenzy stretched from Chelsea and crosstown to the East River and left a 36-year-old construction worker and 68-year-old man who was fishing dead, Kenny said.

The third victim – a 36-year-old woman – was stabbed multiple times and succumbed to her injuries at the hospital Monday night, sources said.

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The bloody attacks erupted around 8:20 a.m. when the suspect walked up to the construction worker in front of 444 West 19th Street in Chelsea, and knifed him in the stomach, police said.

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About two hours passed before the violent menace moved to 500 East 30th Street, near FDR Drive and The Water Club, where came across the 68-year-old man fishing in the East River, Kenny said.

The crazed assailant stabbed the fisherman several times before running off, Kenny said.

The victim was also taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he too succumbed to his injuries, the chief said.

Police could be seen hours later bagging up the hapless angler’s fishing pole as evidence.

The third and final stabbing unfolded in the shadow of the United Nations building at East 42nd Street and First Avenue, Kenny said.

The 36-year-old woman was knifed multiple times in full view of several witnesses, Kenny and sources said.

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Rivera, a homeless resident of the Bellevue Men’s Shelter, had a long trail of recent arrests and two mental health incidents in which police responded, sources said. He also had an extensive history of arrests from several other states, according to sources.

The run-ins with the NYPD caused Rivera to spend much of this year behind bars – he was only released from Rikers Island a month before the attacks, sources said.

Rivera’s rap sheet includes five burglary arrests going back to December 2023, along with a petit larceny collar that month, mostly in Manhattan, sources said.

He also was arrested for assaulting a corrections officer in May inside Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric center, according to sources.

In October, Rivera was arrested on a grand larceny charge after prosecutors said he stole a nearly $1,500 acrylic bowl from a shop in Tribeca, sources said.

Court records show he pleaded not guilty and was released on bail with non-monetary conditions.

He also pleaded guilty to burglary and assault charges from three separate cases in recent months, for which he received jail time, sources said.

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