A homeless individual, Jean Carlos Zarzuela, aged 30, was released without bail after allegedly breaking a woman’s nose randomly.
Subsequently, he is reported to have sucker-punched a nine-year-old girl in the face at Grand Central Station, as stated by MTA officials.
According to MTA police, Zarzuela was apprehended after purportedly striking the youngster while she stood next to her shocked mother in the station’s dining concourse around 11:50 a.m. on Saturday. Emergency medical services transported the girl to NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital for medical attention.
Following the attack, MTA officers, aware of Zarzuela’s last known address being a homeless shelter on E. 125th St., proceeded to the E. 125th St. subway station on Lexington Ave. Saturday evening seeking assistance from two NYPD transit officers, per law enforcement sources.
The NYPD transit officers confirmed his identity from a photograph and reported seeing him approximately 10 minutes earlier. Zarzuela was located by the NYPD transit officers and handed over to the MTA police officers for arrest.
Additionally, Zarzuela is accused of assaulting a 54-year-old woman at Grand Central Station on April 4. Initially charged by MTA police with felony assault, prosecutors in Manhattan reduced the charge to a misdemeanor.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Pamela Goldsmith initially ordered Zarzuela to be held on $2,500 cash bail or $10,000 bond. Records indicate he had a bench warrant for assault cases in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Subsequently, on Tuesday, he appeared before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Laurie Peterson, as indicated by the court system’s online docket. Just four days prior to the attack on the young girl, he was released without bail.
“It doesn’t make any sense that this guy — who recently was released after being charged with randomly punching someone else and breaking that victim’s nose — should be back in a public space where he can attack others, especially children,” MTA communications director Tim Minton said.
“The people responsible for the criminal justice system need to learn from this episode before more innocent people become victims.”
