An emotionally disturbed man tackled a 29-year-old woman in Hell’s Kitchen on Sunday afternoon shortly after he had been hospitalized for a similar incident, according to police sources.
Kwabena Manti, 38, was zigzagging in traffic on 10th Ave. near W. 55th St. moments before the attack, according to witnesses.
Then without warning, he ran up to a woman on the sidewalk and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug, dropping to the ground with her in his arms around 4 p.m., according to witnesses.
“When I saw him, he was howling, he was making sounds like he was very upset and distraught,” said Hell’s Kitchen resident Lorne Dannenbaum, 51.
A group of bystanders rushed to the petite woman’s aid, trying to pull Manti off her, Dannenbaum said. An off-duty New Jersey cop intervened and brandished a handgun while demanding Manti release her, according to witnesses.
“A police officer showed up right away, pulled out his gun and said ‘Stop this,’ ” Dannenbaum said. “And he did.”
The officer and several good Samaritans helped to hold Manti, who is homeless, as NYPD officers arrived at the scene, cops said.
Cops strapped Manti, who was dressed in an orange shirt and blue jeans, to a gurney and took him to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation, cops said.
The victim was not seriously injured, police said.
A police source said the man had been picked up by cops during another incident earlier in the day and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for evaluation. It was not clear why he was released.