A 28-year-old sicko arrested for a slashing three months ago and released on bail was rearrested Thursday for cutting a 30-year-old stranger’s face in Manhattan, leaving him with 150 stitches, cops said.
Police busted Francis Salud for attacking Anthony Christopher Smith, of Newark, NJ, from ear to mouth in the East Village about 4:30 p.m. Saturday as he walked to a cafe to meet a friend, cops said.
“At this point, it looks like it was a random act,” Chief of Manhattan Detectives William Aubrey said.
Salud, who is believed to have a psychological history, was arrested for slashing a man in his left side on Oct. 18 over a cigarette in a courtyard outside Bellevue Hospital, requiring him to get 73 stitches, Aubrey said. Salud was released from jail on $30,000 bail after the attack.
Three months later, he approached Smith, of Newark, NJ, in front of 208 E. 6th St. from behind while yelling profanities, pushed him into a wall and cut him in the back and across his face for no reason, Aubrey said.
Manhattan Detective Nancy Yule looked back from the day of the incident for similar cases and found Salud and the October slashing. His photo from that incident was matched with his description and a video of the suspect in the recent case.
Cops went to his family’s home in Queens and found him staying with another family member in Manhattan on Thursday. The NYPD is determining the charges with prosecutors.
His priors in include assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Aubrey said cops are continuing to look for similar cases and serving a search warrant at his address.