By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-25 17:16:01 | Updated at 2024-12-26 04:45:48
11 hours ago
A woman who was stabbed by a maniac at Grand Central Terminal on Christmas Eve said he came up from behind and punched her — and that no one around her came to her aid after he plunged the knife into her throat.
Imani-Ciara Pizarro, 26, had just gotten off the 4 train around 10 p.m. and was heading to her administrative night job at the Roosevelt Hotel, which has been converted into a migrant shelter, when she was attacked.
She was Facetiming with her neighbor when she spotted blood spattered on the floor near the turnstiles. Seconds later, she Pizarro “blacked out” when the assailant “sucker punched” her in the back of the head “as hard as he could,” forcing her to the ground.
The suspect, who has not been identified, began repeatedly yelling at her “what’s your problem?” — and then lunged at her with a small knife, cutting through her throat. He then kicked Pizarro’s phone away.
Witnesses to the stabbing, many of whom appeared to be tourists “just froze.” Police were nowhere in sight, she said.
“I wish I could be able to travel to my livelihood and not be attacked. I wish there were cops in Grand Central when I was attacked, there were none. I was running for help and there was no one there,” she said.
“There are usually cops in four different spots and I ran to each one of them but none were there,” she said.
“No one called 911. No one in Grand Central called 911. It was my neighbor. I called my neighbor. I was on the phone with my neighbor when it happened and she called 911.”
A second victim, a 42-year-old man, “got injured worse than me,” she said.
“It was almost like he wanted to get caught cuz he ran further into Grand Central” towards the central ticket booth yelling “I hate all of you,” Pizarro said.
She hid until her attacker fled the station, and, with no one around to help her as she bled from her neck, Pizarro ran to the Roosevelt Hotel where medical staff patched her wound.
Sources told The Post that after Pizzaro was stabbed, witnesses did get the attention of cops who arrested the suspect and recovered the knife.
“It’s not fair. We’re getting hurt everyday. And there’s nothing I can do. I can’t protect myself. I’ve almost been assaulted two other times in the last 2 months by mentally ill people. I try to ignore them but they don’t like being ignored either,” Pizarro said.
The suspect has three prior arrests for criminal mischief, fare beating, and assaulting a police officer, sources said.
