A blond-haired man went on an apparent hate-crime spree in Manhattan earlier this week, assaulting seven Asian women over a two-hour span, cops said Wednesday.
Steven Zajonc, 28, who is believed to be homeless, was picked up Wednesday at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, a branch of the New York Public Library that sits across the street from the main building on Fifth Avenue, in connection to the alleged assaults, cops and police sources said.
Zajonc’s sick spree began around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, when he allegedly decked a 57-year-old woman near Madison Avenue and East 30th Street, a few blocks from the Empire State Building, cops said.
Steven Zajonc is walked from the Midtown South Precinct on March 2, 2022. William C. Lopez/NYPOSTHe allegedly struck again 10 minutes later at Fifth Avenue and East 30th Street, hitting a 25-year-old woman in the face and the back of her arm with a closed fist.
He encountered his third victim five minutes later at 6:45 p.m. several blocks away at Park Avenue South and East 23rd Street, a block from Madison Square Park.
This time, he hit a 21-year-old woman in the face with a closed fist, cops said. She suffered a cut to her lip.
Five minutes later, at 6:50 p.m., he hit a 25-year-old woman in the face with a closed fist at Irving Place and East 17th Street in Gramercy, also causing a cut to her lip, cops said.
The suspect who allegedly attacked seven Asian women across Manhattan in a two-hour span. NYPDHis next victim was a 19-year-old woman, whom he elbowed in the face at Union Square East and East 17th Street at 7:05 p.m., and then he struck a 25-year-old woman at East Houston and Mott Street 20 minutes later, according to cops.
His seventh and final attack happened around 8:37 near Broadway and East 8th Street, where he went up to a 20-year-old woman and shoved her to the ground.
In all of the incidents, there was no prior interaction between the attacker and his victims, cops said.
All of the victims, who are Asian, suffered minor injuries and some were treated at the hospital.
The man’s first attack took place near Madison Avenue and East 30th Street in Manhattan. NYPD
The seven victims received a variety of injuries and two were hospitalized for treatment. NYPDSources said library guards recognized Zajonc from the surveillance footage released by the NYPD. He was wearing the same clothes he had on in the video.
Zajonc – whose address is listed as a drop-in center for the homeless on East 32nd Street – was nabbed in the second-floor bathroom, sources said.
He was charged with seven counts each of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment, cops said.
He had a Sarasota, Fla. driver’s license, but his exact connection to that city is unclear, police sources said.
He has no prior arrests in the Big Apple, cops said.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Amanda Woods
