A video of a man attacking a livery driver with a blade in the middle of a Greenpoint street last Tuesday has helped police nab the suspect a few days later, according to a spokeswoman for New York’s Finest.
“Other police officers recognized him and picked up him,” said Det. Sophia Mason.
A passerby recorded a video of the tussle, which shows the 46-year-old suspect from Queens — who now faces up to 25 years behind bars, according to the District Attorney’s office — swipe at the driver with his weapon in the middle of the road as other motorists honked around them, and police circulated the footage via social media the next day in an attempt to track the man down.
“This viral video might be key in helping us catch his violent suspect,” officers from Patrol Borough Brooklyn North wrote on Facebook.
Cops say they spotted the suspect strolling down Meserole Avenue near Lorimer Street on Friday, and hauled him to the 94th Precinct station house, Mason said.
The suspect, driving a white Hyundai with Florida plates, allegedly tailgated the 24-year-old ride-hail driver on McGuinness Boulevard near Norman Avenue, and when traffic stopped for a red light around 1:30 pm, he jumped out of his car and started screaming the victim cut him off, according to Mason.
Police allege the suspect then pulled out a box cutter on the driver, at which point the video shows a good Samaritan triying to intervene as he lunged at and chased the victim in the street, dancing around his black sedan with Taxi and Limousine Commission plates.
And as the suspect rounded the driver’s vehicle, he also pulled open its front passenger-side door and grabbed the keys from its ignition before hopping back into his ride and hitting the gas — pinning the victim against another truck as he sped off, the footage shows.
Paramedics took the victim to Woodhull Hospital, where doctors treated him for bruises and cuts, according to Mason.
