A shoeless maniac randomly attacked several strangers and even cops in an unhinged Wednesday morning spree in Chelsea – leaving one victim lamenting to The Post “this shouldn’t be happening.”
The unhinged man allegedly punched photographer and artist Jose Castillo, 38, at West 26th Street and Seventh Avenue around 9:20 a.m., police said.
Castillo, a New Yorker of 12 years who has a studio in SoHo, was walking to pick up supplies in Chelsea when he strolled past a man who had been asking people for money on the street.
Out of nowhere, that man turned violent, Castillo said.
“I felt [like I was] punched in the face, and it knocked me to the ground,” he said. “A couple people that were around came by to see if I was OK and helped me up. I wasn’t knocked out, but I was knocked down to the floor by the punch.”
“And as I was getting up, to just you know, dust it off and keep on walking because it’s New York, one of the people that was helping me said like, ‘You’re bleeding in your face,’ and she said, ‘You should call the cops,’” Castillo added.
As he dialed 911, he looked back to see if the madman was still in sight – and caught him punching a teen girl, a tourist who was visiting the city with her mom.
“I saw it from maybe like half a block away as I was walking over and he hit her in the face too,” Castillo said. “But by the time I reached them, the young girl was inconsolable. She was crying because she had just been attacked in the middle of the street.
“When I went over and approached them, and I was like, ‘Hey, did he attack you too?’, and they were like, ‘Yeah, he just punched her too,’ and by then I was already on the line with 911 and I was telling them what was happening.”
Both mom and daughter, who were “quite shaken up,” were no longer at the scene by the time cops arrived.
“I assume this is gonna be their New York story, you know,” Castillo said.
As Castillo was on the phone with the dispatcher, he said he witnessed the crazed man attack another youngster.
“He got up to these young kids that looked like they were in middle school and when they didn’t pay any attention to him, he smacked one of them in the back of the head,” he said. “I was telling all of this to the dispatcher and letting them know that they should get there fast, because this guy was, you know, attacking people randomly.”
As the officers approached, the street menace became “combative” and turned on them too — punching a 30-year-old male officer in the face, and spitting on a 30-year-old female cop, authorities said.
Another officer, 53, also hurt his shoulder while attempting to take the assailant into custody, police said.
“As they get close to him, this guy just starts swinging, and hits one of the officers on the right side of his face, and they tried to contain him,” Castillo said. “You know, that guy wasn’t that tall, he was about 5-foot-7, but he was really strong for someone that was that skinny.
“It was just havoc,” the victim recalled. “The cops tried to…restrain him and they were having issues with that. Two other police officers came by and helped … .I know that he was spitting at officers at the station and in the car.”
Castillo was treated at the scene for minor injuries, but said he thinks he needs to get checked out further.
“Right now, I’m going to get an X-ray of my face because…. I have pain, like I think that he moved one of my teeth in the back of my mouth,” he said.
The two male officers were hospitalized in stable condition, according to cops.
Meanwhile, the attacker — who is considered an emotionally disturbed person — was taken to Bellevue Hospital for an evaluation, police said.
He was taken into police custody with charges pending. His name was not immediately known and police were considering him a “John Doe.”
He wore only socks but no shoes during the string of attacks, and appeared to be in his mid-40s, Castillo said.
“Mostly he was just silent and threatening, getting in people’s faces,” he recalled. “You know, this guy was serious. I’ve been living here for 12 years, and I’ve seen some people that were acting a little deranged, but this guy definitely was….I think that he needed some help.”
Meanwhile, Castillo said that attacks like these “shouldn’t be happening.”
“There are alternatives that could be put in place to help these people out,” he said. “The police response was quick, they were very helpful. I think that we should be thankful that we live in a city that has such a strong police force that is there for us.”
