{"id":324575,"date":"2026-08-19T01:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/324575\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T01:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T01:56:11","slug":"vagrant-accused-of-randomly-stabbing-nyc-tourist-at-murder-mcdonalds-charged-with-attempted-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/324575\/","title":{"rendered":"Vagrant accused of randomly stabbing NYC tourist at \u2018murder McDonald\u2019s\u2019 charged with attempted murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The knife-wielding nut accused of randomly stabbing an Australian tourist at an infamous Manhattan McDonald\u2019s<\/a> was arraigned Tuesday on an attempted murder charge \u2014 as the teen victim remains hospitalized with a punctured lung.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Juan Mercedes, 25, was held on $150,000 bail during the Manhattan Criminal Court hearing for allegedly stabbing a 19-year-old out-of-towner at what locals call the \u201cmurder McDonald\u2019s\u201d<\/a> on Eighth Avenue near Penn Station.<\/p>\n

A 19-year-old Australian tourist was stabbed twice inside of a McDonalds on 35th Street and Eighth Avenue around 2 a.m. Monday. Robert Mecea for NY Post<\/p>\n

Juan Mercedes, 25, was arriagned Tuesday on a slew of charges including attempted murder, for the alleged unprovoked attack on the 19-year-old tourist. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

Mercedes calmy walked up to the 19-year-old tourist who was eating with his pals and allegedly knifed him twice in the back in an unprovoked attack around 2 a.m. Monday, prosecutors said, citing video footage and eyewitness accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said that Mercedes then walked out of the fast food joint and was found by cops nearby holding a knife.<\/p>\n

The victim suffered stab wounds to his lower right torso and lower right back which punctured his lung, according to the DA\u2019s office. <\/p>\n

He remained hospitalized as of Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The Australian tourist was eating with his pals at the McDonalds at 490 Eighth Avenue before Mercedes allegedly stabbed him twice. Robert Mecea for NY Post<\/p>\n

The fast-food eatery on 8th Ave. and 35th St. in Manhattan has been given the nickname \u201cmurder McDonalds\u201d by locals. Robert Mecea for NY Post<\/p>\n

Mercedes has no clear ties to the Big Apple and would not provide a current address or contact details to police when asked, according to the DA\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was carrying a Florida license when he was arrested, and prosecutors said he has a criminal record in the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n

The 24\/7 McDonalds at 490 Eighth Ave. is known to attract seedy clientele including drug dealers, thugs and junkies. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

The McDonald\u2019s eatery at 490 Eighth Avenue, which is open 24\/7, has earned a sordid reputation and remains a known hangout for troublemakers, including drug dealers, thugs and junkies from a nearby methadone clinic, neighborhood regulars told The Post Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a murder McDonald\u2019s. They do whatever they want here. It\u2019s like a little slice of hell because you can get whatever you need here,\u201d one clinic patron named Toaster, 45, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a f\u2014ing nightmare,\u201d Toaster added. \u201cYou gotta watch out while you\u2019re eating McDonald\u2019s and you\u2019re not even freaking from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The McDonalds at 490 Eighth Ave. is \u201cnot a place to be hanging out\u201d late at night, nearby panhandler Tony told The Post Monday. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

A panhandler and admitted former drug pusher named Tony said anyone with common sense stays away from the fast-food eatery after midnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce it gets dark that\u2019s when all the stuff comes out \u2026 that\u2019s when the vampires come out, the bloodsuckers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s money hour,\u201d Tony added. \u201cNot a place to be hanging out here at that late night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The knife-wielding nut accused of randomly stabbing an Australian tourist at an infamous Manhattan McDonald\u2019s was arraigned Tuesday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5357,4582,4121,23794,57,9,56,63,65,64,7968,2442,13942,58,3301],"class_list":["post-324575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-attacks","tag-australia","tag-bellevue-hospital","tag-mcdonalds","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-penn-station","tag-stabbings","tag-tourists","tag-us-news","tag-violence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}