A man attacked his
young wife with a meat cleaver yesterday morning in Chinatown, but the bloody
attack was broken up by nearby Firefighters who heard the woman’s screams. It
happened in front of Fong’s Trading around 1030 hours when an argument between
the suspect and his 23-year-old wife, ended with the man striking her multiple
times with a meat cleaver. Two Firefighters across
the street at the Engine 9/Ladder 6 firehouse were preparing their rigs for the
day when they heard the screams. and helped subdue the man.
18-year FDNY veteran
Jose Ortiz describes the moment he stopped a vicious meat-cleaver attack by
grabbing the suspect’s arm to prevent him from hitting his wife.
“I saw a man dragging this woman, she’s crying and screaming,” said Jose
Ortiz, an 18-year FDNY veteran. “As I get closer, the man pulls a cleaver out
of his waistband and starts hacking at this woman. I’m trying to grab his arms
(and) he’s just swinging . . . six, eight, maybe 10 times he hits the woman in
the head. So, we both [he and Firefighter James Trainor] bum rush him and get
him against the fence.” A fellow Firefighter flagged down a passing police car,
and officers cuffed and arrested the subdued man.
The woman ran down the block screaming hysterically before ducking into a
noodle shop. She ran out of the restaurant and down the block, but Firefighters
were finally able to stop her at 56 E. Broadway, where they treated and
bandaged wounds to her abdomen, torso and head. Paramedics took his wife to
Bellevue Hospital, where she is reportedly listed in critical but stable
condition.
