A 33-year-old man was viciously slashed in the face after he innocently bumped into a stranger at a Brooklyn subway stop, police said Tuesday.
Monday’s slashing at the 53rd St. station at Fourth Ave. in Sunset Park was the second time in nine days that a slashing in the subway was sparked by two men accidentally bumping into one another, officials said.
The victim told police that he was on the station’s mezzanine level by the turnstiles at 1 p.m. when he bumped into 26-year-old Caleb Polidore.
The two men, who didn’t know each other, immediately got into an argument over what happened, cops said. A few moments later, Polidore pulled out a blade and slashed the older victim about the face and body, cops said.
EMS rushed the victim to NYU Langone-Brooklyn, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
Polidore was arrested at the scene and charged with assault, weapons possession, menacing and harassment. During his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court Tuesday, he was ordered held on $3,000 bail, which he quickly posted, according to court records.
Police said this is Polidore’s first arrest.
In an unrelated incident on Dec. 20, a 38-year-old man was slashed aboard a crowded southbound No. 6 train nearing the Lexington Ave.-51st St. station after he and another man got into a heated dispute after bumping into each other, cops said.
The attacker whipped out a sharp object and slashed the man on the head before exiting the train and fleeing on foot.
The victim was transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Cops recovered surveillance images of the slasher in the Dec. 20 attack in the hopes someone recognizes him.
Anyone with information regarding the slasher’s whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
