Once again, New York has suffered an attack by a madman who should’ve been in an institution instead of roaming freely in search of victims.
And there’s plenty of blame to go around.
“I want all the white people dead,” Steven Hutcherson allegedly ranted before randomly stabbing two teen tourists from Paraguay enjoying a Christmas morning meal with their parents at Grand Central Terminal’s Tartinery restaurant.
Records show that just days earlier Hutcherson had been released by a Bronx judge after he allegedly threatened to shoot a Ghanaian immigrant over “working for white people” last month.
When nabbed by cops, police only found a knife on him, but Hutcherson later pleaded guilty to third-degree assault.
It wasn’t his first offense, or even his 12th. Yet Judge Matthew Grieco sentenced him to conditional discharge by on Dec. 12.
It’s outrageous. No way Hutcherson should’ve been free to stab his teen victims less than two weeks later.
Consider his recent criminal record:
- Dec. 12: A guilty plea to misdemeanor weapons possession stemming from a July 24 arrest after walking into a Bronx police precinct armed with a dagger and a switchblade and acting belligerently.
He was sentenced to 15 days in jail but given a conditional discharge.
- Nov. 23: A report of erratic behavior — screaming on a Bronx street.
- Oct 12: A guilty plead to second-degree menacing after smashing a display case at Bergdorf Goodman on Oct. 2. He was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
- Sept. 11: A dispute at the 176th Street subway station where he was stabbed.
If Hutcherson was mentally ill and had a history of weapons possession and threatening people, why didn’t authorities place him in a setting where he couldn’t hurt people or himself?
It’s simple madness to let a guy with that kind of track record be released again and again.
And the blame goes beyond the judge.
Gov. Hochul and state legislative leaders just won’t give law enforcement and the judiciary sufficient authority and the tools to involuntary commit dangerous mentally ill people.
Recall the tragic tale of Marine Corps veteran Daniel Perry, who now awaits trial on manslaughter charges in the unintended death of subway menace Jordan Neely.
Neely didn’t get the help he needed because of glaring holes in the state’s mental-health safety net.
Tragically, he was on the city’s “Top 50” roster of homeless people who desperately needed help — people who repeatedly cycle in and out of mental-health treatment and homeless shelters — but, alas, an intervention didn’t occur before his fateful F train encounter with Daniel Perry.
Then there’s accused subway slasher Kemal Rideout, who, in four of his five previous criminal cases, successfully pleaded that he was “not responsible” for his crimes because he’s mentally ill.
Mayor Adams has had made some progress by pushing the envelope and trying to involuntarily hospitalize some homeless New Yorkers with chronic and untreated mental illness.
That policy has been met by a torrent of opposition from progressives and lefty politicians, but it clearly hasn’t gone far enough.
For years, state lawmakers have refused to make it easier for families, law enforcement and the courts to involuntarily commit dangerous mentally ill individuals for psychiatric treatment.
Yet troubled individuals like Hutcherson, Neely and Rideout need involuntary in-patient care.
Madmen who threaten to kill others, are clearly mentally ill and likely to hurt others simply can’t be allowed to roam free.
