There’s been an unprecedented level of unprovoked attacks occurring in the New York area over the past several months, and some of these incidents are clearly stemming from unaddressed mental health concerns.
A recent Easter Sunday attack on an actor highlights this fact. On March 31, actor Michael Stuhlbarg suffered a minor cut to his head when he was struck by a rock at around 7:45 P.M. on Sunday. Stuhlbarg was reportedly running alone in Central Park. When he reached the area around 90th Street and East Drive, he suddenly felt himself get hit by a rock. When he looked around, he saw 27-year-old Xavier Israel. Stuhlbarg proceeded to chase the man out of the park.
Once out of the park, the victim noticed nearby police officers who were stationed outside of the Russian Consulate. He quickly alerted them to the running suspect, and authorities were able to promptly apprehend him.
Xavier is being charged with assault. He’s currently being held on $50,000 bail and will face his arraignment on April 8th in Manhattan Criminal Court.
According to police, Xavier was arrested in a similarly unprovoked violent incident two years ago. The suspect also reportedly has a history of mental illness. Back in January of 2022, Xavier was arrested after attacking a 58-year-old resident in a cruel attack. In that incident, the 58-year-old witnessed Xavier sleeping on the sidewalk outside of Bryant Park. Struck with compassion, the man took the coat off his back and attempted to give it to Xavier.
That’s when the suspect became enraged, threw the coat at the victim, and began pushing the older victim until he fell to the ground. At that point, Xavier began punching the man in the face before stealing his wallet and running away.
At the time, police quickly caught up with Xavier and recovered the wallet. Authorities linked that attack to other assaults that happened within the past 10 days in the city. Xavier was convicted of attempted robbery in one of those incidents and was sentenced to serve two years behind bars and two years of post-release supervision. He was just released on parole on December 7th. His parole was set to end in September of 2025.
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