A man in Chinatown who slashed a 20-year-old man with a sword for urinating on an apartment building wall has been arrested and is now facing charges, the New York Police Department said.
What happened: The incident occurred on Elizabeth Street near Grand Street on Oct. 10 at about 2:45 a.m., according to the New York Daily News.
- The victim was reportedly hanging out with his four friends when he decided to relieve himself on the apartment wall.
- A man then poked his head outside of his window to yell at the 20-year-old man to stop him from urinating.
- He allegedly went out of the apartment wielding a sword, with another man carrying brass knuckles, and proceeded to beat and hack at the victim.
- He sustained several injuries, including swelling on the face, a slashed rib, a deep cut on his left forearm where the blade reached his bone and damaged his tendons.
- The fingers in his right hands were also cut while attempting to grab the sword.
- The man was taken to Bellevue Hospital to treat his injuries.
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Arrest and charges: One of the alleged attackers were arrested and identified as Maximilian Ong, the manager, and son of the woman who owns the apartment building.
- The “38-year-old male of 121 Elizabeth Street was charged with assault for slashing a 20-year-old male in the torso, arm and finger,” NYPD told NextShark. “This took place on October 10 at 0315 in front of 115 Elizabeth Street.”
- In addition to the assault charges, Ong is also facing weapon possession charges and has been released on a $20,000 cash bail.
- Although Ong was arrested, the police were not able to recover the alleged weapon and the other person involved remains at large.
In his defense: Ong’s lawyer, Daniel Gotlin, claimed the man’s injuries were not caused by his client. Ong’s mother defended her son on Saturday, saying the slashing stemmed from a “testosterone-fueled” street fight, the NY Post reported.
- Gotlin also described the 20-year-old and his friends as drunken bullies who threw racial slurs at Ong.
- “They decided that Chinatown looks like a urinal, so he’s gonna pee on the building,” the lawyer said. “He was called a ‘chink’ and they used other racial (slurs.) They jumped my client when he kept insisting that he can’t do this. They were drunken kids that were using racial epithets against Chinese, which is all too common during this pandemic.”
- Ong’s mother, who refused to give her name, called the attack a “stupid kind of fight.”
- “There’s too much testosterone,” the woman said from Ong’s apartment. “I just wish that groups of guys don’t go around the neighborhood doing things like this on other people’s property.”
- Another person, whose identity was not revealed, allegedly showed up to help Ong during the encounter, but Gotlin did not elaborate further, stating the police would have to sort this out.
Feature Image via Google Maps
