Steve Buscemi’s ‘attacker’ Clifton Williams arrested for ‘punching actor in the face’ as he walked down the street
THE man accused of attacking actor Steve Buscemi on a Manhattan sidewalk has been arrested.
Clifton Williams, 50, was arrested on Friday, nearly two weeks after police say he randomly punched the Boardwalk Empire actor in the face.
New York police responded to reports of a man screaming at pedestrians in Manhattan’s Chelsea area at around 12:40 pm.
There, law enforcement officials arrested and identified the suspect as Williams, who was wanted for the May 8 assault of Buscemi.
The Golden Globe winner, 66, was walking in Midtown Manhattan on the morning of May 8 when he was randomly slugged in the face by a man, police said.
When police arrived, the attacker had already fled the scene.
Buscemi, a Brooklyn native, was taken to the hospital and treated for bruising, swelling, and bleeding from his left eye.
The attack on Buscemi occurred nearly two months after his Boardwalk Empire co-star Michael Stuhlbarg was hit in the back of the neck with a rock while walking in Central Park on March 31.
Stuhlbarg was walking in the famed Manhattan park at around 7:45 pm when he was struck in the back of the head, police said.
The Your Honor actor, 55, chased the suspect, who was arrested outside of the park and identified as Xavier Israel, 27.
Israel was charged with assault.
He has had two prior arrests for assault and robbery, police said.
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The Big Apple has seen a spat of random attacks on pedestrians in recent months.
At least 14 women have reported getting punched out of nowhere by strangers since mid-March, according to The New York Times, citing police and city statistics.
Of the 14 incidents, only two have led to arrests.
On May 11, Amber Lofr was chaperoning a group of schoolgirls on a class trip to Times Square when she was randomly stabbed by a man.
Lofr, a 36-year-old mother of five from Pennsylvania, was treated at the hospital for stab wounds.
Police arrested Cyril Destin, 61, after he was caught on video plunging a knife into Lofr’s chest, according to police.
Lofr’s husband, John Lofr, told The New York Post the couple has no plans of visiting New York City again.
“A guy with a very lengthy record went out of nowhere and attacked my wife by stabbing her into the chest and within inches of her life being lost,” the husband told the outlet.
“My wife not only had taken the stabbing but should also be considered a hero by remaining in front of the children, coaching them to go backwards without turning around.”
John thanked a bystander who ran over and helped his wife.
“This man could have murdered my wife or even worse, one of the children she was chaperoning,” he added.
“To think I could have been planning a funeral rather celebrating my wife on Mother’s Day is sickening to me.”