By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-19 04:46:21 | Updated at 2024-11-23 11:08:06
4 days ago
The madman who allegedly killed two people during a stabbing spree in Manhattan had just recently been released from prison, it has been revealed.
Ramon Rivera, 51, was released from Rikers Island on October 17 after being arrested on charges of burglary in the third-degree and assault in the third-degree on February 19, PIX 11 reports.
Police accused him at the time of being responsible for a pattern of burglaries throughout Manhattan, dating back to December 2023, when a thief smashed glass doors and windows of bodegas and smoke shops to steal thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes, vapes and lighters, according to the New York Post.
Rivera ultimately pleaded guilty to the charges in August and was sentenced to nearly a year in prison, but was let out after eight months of time served.
But the day he was released, Rivera was arrested again on grand larceny charges, with prosecutors saying he stole a nearly $1,500 acrylic bowl from a Jonathan Adler shop in Tribeca in December 2023.
Manhattan prosecutors pushed for bail, but a judge ordered him released under supervision.
The release perplexed New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who said police will look into how a career criminal with a history of mental illness was allowed to walk free.
'We are still looking over his record, but there's a real question on why he was on the street,' the mayor said Monday, after he was once again arrested for his murderous stabbing spree.
Ramon Rivera, 51, who was taken into custody for allegedly killing two people in a stabbing spree Monday morning. He had recently been released from Rikers Island
In total, Rivera has had at least eight other arrests in the Big Apple and a history of mental health issues
In total, Rivera has had at least eight other arrests in the Big Apple and a history of mental health issues.
He spent several days in May in the psych ward of Bellevue Hospital, where cops said he assaulted a corrections officer.
Rivera also had two other mental health incidents between November and December 2023, and as the NYPD eyed him as a suspect in the string of burglaries, cops in Union City, New Jersey arrested him in January as a fugitive from justice and as a suspect in a theft.
Hoboken police then also arrested Rivera on two counts of criminal mischief.
But Rivera's criminal career extends beyond the New York City metropolitan area, with a 2017 arrest in Cleveland, Ohio for assault, and multiple arrests in Florida going back to 2003 on charges ranging from domestic violence battery to procuring prostitutes to even drunken driving, the Post reports.
Rivera is now back in custody after he allegedly stabbed a total of three people on Monday morning in an unprovoked attack, when a cab driver called the police.
Charges against him are pending.
Two knives were recovered from the scene following Rivera's arrest
Rivera is now back in custody after he allegedly stabbed a total of three people on Monday morning in an unprovoked attack, when a cab driver called the police
The first victim, an unidentified 36-year-old construction worker, was stabbed around 8.20am on W. 19th St. near Tenth Ave. in Chelsea, police said.
He was stabbed in the abdomen 'without warning' and rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
An unnamed Asian 68-year-old man, who was fishing in the East River, was then stabbed 'multiple times in the body' around 10.27am. He died at the hospital.
A third victim, a 36-year-old black woman, was stabbed around 10.55am at E. 42nd St. and First Ave. in Murray Hill.
The unidentified woman was also taken to Weill Cornell Medical Center where she remains in critical condition.
Police have said that in addition to the cab driver, several other good Samaritans and NYPD Officer Robert Garvey helped track down the knifeman.
They said witnesses alerted cops the suspect was in the area, as officers later found him with blood on his clothes.
'If Officer Garvey was not there, these random acts of violence, this person conceivably would have continued those random acts of violence,' Mayor Eric Adams said. 'So, he saved the lives of fellow New Yorkers.'
Two knives were recovered at the scene, the New York Daily News reports.
Police have said that in addition to the cab driver, several other good Samaritans and NYPD Officer Robert Garvey helped track down the knifeman
Rivera is reportedly a resident of Bellevue Men's Shelter, according to the New York Post.
A witness, Baha Biten, who was at the consulate building at the time, said he 'saw this homeless guy walking with a purse.'
'And then I saw this guy in the car telling him "Stop, drop the bag! Stop!".
'Of course he didn't listen and then all of a sudden I saw the guys in suit and earphones rushing and trying to look for a suspect,' he added.
The witness said the male suspect 'didn't resist' during his arrest, but added that he 'was not mentally ok.'
'As of right now, these attacks seem to be unprovoked, that he just walked up to them and began to attack them with the knives,' NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
'No words exchanged. No property taken. Just attacked, viciously,' Kenny added.
Following the horrid attacks, Adams said: 'Our hearts go out to the families, goes out to other New Yorkers who observed such a terrible action.
'We will keep them in our prayers.'
'Three New Yorkers. Unprovoked attacks that left us searching for answers on how something like this could happen.'
