Man accused of punching seven random women in New York City is arrested
Police say the man punched women, sometimes in the face, on their heads, or on their backs.
A man accused of assaulting random women in New York City was arrested Tuesday, police said.
Daquan Armstead, 31, of East Bronx, was taken into custody on suspicion of hate-motivated assaults on seven women from late March to mid-April in Lower Manhattan, police said.
Authorities allege he punched women, sometimes in the face, on their heads, or on their backs.
When asked about the allegations while being taken out of the New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force office, Armstead responded, "They spit at me." Police refuted the suspect’s claim that victims had spit on him.
It wasn't clear Tuesday evening if he has retained legal counsel. New York County Defender Services, which provides defense attorneys for many criminal cases, noted that a public record of his arrest was unavailable.
Armstead was arrested on suspicion of hate crime/assault; suspicion of attempted hate crime; and suspicion of aggravated harassment, according to the NYPD's Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Public Information.
Police told NBC New York there have been 95 unprovoked assaults in Manhattan so far this year, with 50 of them involving victims who are women.
At least one arrest was made previously in connection with a series of attacks earlier this spring that gained attention after some of the women told their stories on TikTok.
The allegations involving Armstead do not appear to be any of the attacks seen on social media.
The department released a timeline of alleged attacks
Topic: This lunatic may have punched 7 random women but doubt he'll be punished much (Read 49 times)