Glass bottle Attacker’s Bail Is Set at $100,000 After Lunatic’s Spree Injures 3 in Midtown
Michael Howell, has been indicted for his unprovoked attacks with glass bottles on three New Yorkers in early October, according to District Attorney Alvin Bragg. A judge set Howel’s bail at $100,000.
| 08 Nov 2023 | 10:17
A glass bottle wielding lunatic attacked a man outside Whole Foods on Sixth Ave. near Bryant Park in October and minutes later went inside and seriously injured a woman on the second floor before coming downstairs, boarding an uptown D train and attacking his third victim. Photo: Tripadvisor
Late afternoon on October 5th, Michael Howell started his series of glass bottle attacks on the sidewalk outside of a Whole Foods Market in Midtown across from Bryant Park.
His first victim was a 23-year-old man who was struck in the head with a glass bottle at around 6:40 p.m..
Five minutes later, the offender attacked victim number two, a 49-year-old woman who compared the attack to a gunshot wound and a chandelier falling on her head.
She told authorities afterwards she was casually grocery shopping at on the second floor of Whole Foods Market on 6th Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets when the suspect swung a glass tea bottle at the victim striking her in the face and head.
“In that moment when I had the blow to the back of my head, and in that moment I just remember, let go, let go,” she said in an interview with ABC7 Eyewitness News. “And when I said that, I knew in that moment that I had to prepare to die.”
For safety reasons, the women did not want to be identified. She was hospitalized after the attack, needing staples in her head while a damaged ear had to be surgically glued back to her head.
The suspect was not done yet.
An hour later, Howell retrieved a third glass bottle and on a northbound D train, he hit a 55-year old woman in the head.
Howell’s crime spree was put to an end when NYPD arrived at the Rockefeller Center subway station on Sixth Ave. and west 46th street to take a report from the last victim, only to discover Howell was still on the scene. He was promptly arrested.
The suspect reportedly has a long rap sheet.
Previously in August, Howell was arrested on three different occasions for petty theft at TJ Maxx and Nordstrom locations. Back in 2014, he was also caught driving while intoxicated.
“No one should have to experience this type of violence in a Manhattan grocery store or subway station, and I hope the victims fully recover from their injuries,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bail was set at $100,000.