A Black Bronx man was arrested in the stabbing of two teenagers visiting the city for Christmas. Police say his charges were upgraded to a hate crime after he spat a series of remarks that suggested he had a thing against white folks.
Apparently, this isn’t his first tirade either, but let’s first focus on the most recent
On Christmas morning, at the Tartinery’s Cafe at Grand Central Terminal, 16-year-old and 14-year-old sisters were eating with their family. They were visiting from Paraguay, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by The New York Times, 36-year-old Steven Hutcherson (or Esteban Esono-Asue, his alias) walked in to the restaurant but was immediately asked to leave for “erratic behavior.”
He allegedly told the worker, “I’ll leave. I don’t want the white man to get you,” - whatever that’s supposed to mean.
The complaint says he then went up to another worker to ask if he could place an order but when he went to be sat, he said, “I don’t want to sit with the Black people. I want to sit with the crackers.”
Moments later, he seemingly gathered an appetite for violence.
Read more from The New York Times:
Shortly after Mr. Esono-Asue was seated and given water, the complaint says, the second Tartinery employee saw him stand up, approach a table where a family that appeared to be white was sitting, pull a knife from his pocket and stab one of the girls in the back.
As the family tried to escape, he stabbed the second girl in the leg, according to the complaint. Neither injury was life-threatening, and the girls were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where the older sister was treated for a collapsed lung, according to officials and the complaint.
Here’s the thing. This guy’s behavior didn’t appear to be a surprise to the NYPD.
According to NBC’s report, he’s been described by the police as an “emotionally disturbed person.” He also has a record of 17 prior arrests including smashing a display case, weapons possession, attacking a woman and most recently, allegedly threatening to shoot a man in November. He was sentenced in December to conditional discharge.
In his most recent ruckus, Hutcherson was arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and first-degree attempted assault. Each count has been charged as a hate crime, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He also faces an additional count of endangering the welfare of a child.
His next hearing for this holiday incident is Friday. He’s being represented by The Legal Aid Society, the report said.