By Marlyn Montilla
Sep 24, 2023, 17:02 PM EDT
An 83-year-old man who allegedly slashed two people with a machete (injuring one of them in the neck, leaving a 5-inch gash) during an altercation at a party in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the suspect walked around the place “like a samurai,” reported the authorities and one of the victims.
“There was no altercation, no disagreement. I was actually watching a YouTube video on an iPad with my friend and suddenly I feel something hit me on the back of the head. And then a girl came out of the bathroom and he hit her too,” said Brian Espinal, 35, adding that he knew the man having seen him before at the Scholes Street basement “informal” social club where the violence broke out.
Espinal insisted the attack was random, who is a film production assistant who had a bandage on his neck where he was cut.
“He was always telling jokes, talking about being a Vietnam veteran. He had no family. “I didn’t have anyone,” Espinal said of the alleged attacker. “I think he was taking some medication and maybe he didn’t take it last night, because he walked like a samurai with his trench coat and this sword, a machete.”
Officials said the elderly man was arguing with a woman, 28, and Espinal at 2:00 a.m. when he brandished the machete, cutting the woman on the forehead and the man on the neck, the agents explained.
“I didn’t see what happened after he hit me. I just fell. I didn’t know if she hit an artery. I didn’t know if I was going to die,” said Espinal, who believes he could have been saved from a worse injury because he was wearing a hat backwards, with the machete hitting the brim of the hat, the New York Post reported.
The elderly man was arrested at the scene, where the machete was recovered. His identification was pending charges, police said.
The suspect was transported to Kings County Hospital for a cut to his hand that was likely self-inflicted.
The building where the stabbing occurred is on a quiet street, but is known for its loud parties, said a neighbor who preferred anonymity.
The resident said the building has been a problem for several years. “This is not the first time,” they said. “Every time we call the police, the police come and nothing. Every time there is a fight, every time we have problems here.”
The neighbor says there is constant noise and it comes from parties in the basement.
“They fight, they throw bottles at each other, they talk and talk,” the resident said. “It’s awful. I don’t know exactly what’s going on down there. It is illegal. It is a large space, there are people playing cards and other games.”
The New York Police Department indicated that it was the first time they appeared at the building in September, according to a spokesperson.
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