A subject waved a knife at children and families waiting in line at the Central Park carousel on Sunday, authorities said.
Suspect was waiting alone to ride the ride just south of E. 65th St. in the early afternoon when he lost control with two minors close to him, a tourist told the Daily News.
“While he bought his ticket, he yelled at the children to continue with their day,” said Mireya Gómez, who was visiting from Washington DC. “He started being really rude to them so the little kids backed off and waited for him to finish buying his ticket.”
When the woman realized that the individual was not the father of the children, she checked if they were okay before approaching him.
“I told the guy: ‘Don’t talk to these kids like that,’” said Gómez, who is 24 years old. “He said: ‘I’m gay and I don’t raise children who don’t belong to this world’”.
The ticket seller noticed the man’s erratic behavior and advised the minors to look for their parents .
“The children pointed to the person (their mother) and he began to get aggressive with my husband and he started saying that women are shit,” Gomez said. “Nobody knows what caused it.”
The father of the children confronted the man, who produced a pocket knife, said the witness.
“All the witnesses just backed off because it wasn’t worth it,” Gomez said. “He started swinging the knife from side to side, threatening everyone.”
The people present at the scene called the police and when they arrived, the man assured the crowd that they had singled him out because he is gay.
“He started freaking out while he was in the police officers’ car, yelling, kicking and still insulting me,” Gomez said. “I heard him scream and I was just smiling and he was like, ‘Go ahead, bitch, keep smiling. I’ll see you in court’”.
The authorities arrested him for threatening the public in Central Park, the event took place around 1: in the afternoon, said police.
“This is my first time in Central Park and the second time in New York,” Gómez said. “My stay has been incredible, I wouldn’t speak ill of New York.”
Also read:
New York union worker is fatally stabbed on Brooklyn L train when he tried to avoid a confrontation with the criminal