Arrest made in screwdriver stabbing of woman in East Harlem

EAST HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman was stabbed with a screwdriver in East Harlem Wednesday evening in an apparently random attack. Just one day later, police had a suspect under arrest.

Police said a 58-year-old woman who lives in the Bronx was stabbed in the leg and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious but stable condition.

Police tell Eyewitness News she was simply trying to leave work for the day at the East Harlem Asthma Center on East 110th Street.

"As she was going through the front door, a male comes up to her and said to her three times, 'How are you doing, miss?' She did not know him, had nothing to do with him at all," said Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce, NYPD.

And it's that sort of random violence that had residents there on edge Thursday.

"You would never know why somebody would do something, that's how the world is," a resident said.

But surveillance cameras did capture a pretty clear image of the man, before he ran away heading east on the block.

Late Thursday, police announced the arrest of 31-year-old Ryan Watson.

He now faces a charge of second degree assault.

"I've lived here since 2008. Will it happen again? Who knows? Of course, it could happen anywhere," a resident said.

"I guess you just have to lay low and watch out for yourself," a resident said.

The woman was being treated at Mount Sinai Hospital where she is stable.