NEW YORK (WWSB) – A Port Charlotte man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing of a teenage tourist in New York City, authorities said Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Australian tourist was stabbed multiple times in a midtown New York McDonald’s Monday morning.
The incident happened around 2 a.m. at the restaurant on Eighth Avenue near Penn Station.
Police said the attack was unprovoked.
Juan Mercedes, 25, of Port Charlotte was arrested and charged with assault.
Nearby residents say random stabbings around the city as their reason to avoid the Penn Station area as much as possible.
Despite the stabbing, crime statistics from the NYPD showing assaults in the Midtown South Precinct are down about 5% from this time last year.
The investigation into the stabbing in continuing.
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