Victim attacked with scissors in Greenwich Village, allegedly by homeless woman, speaks out

GREENWICH VILLAGE (WABC) -- A 72-year-old man says he was simply enjoying an evening stroll in Greenwich Village when he was violently attacked with scissors by a perfect stranger.

It happened near 7th Avenue and 14th Street when out of nowhere he was blindsided until others nearby intervened.

"My first reaction, there was a lot of young people there, I thought somebody threw ice cream on me, that's the feeling I have," said Miko, the victim.

An eerie and chilling feeling suddenly stopped 72-year-old Miko in his tracks Thursday as he was taking a walk with his companion, Olivia. Both declined to provide their last names.

Moments later he discovered he was bleeding and came face to face with his attacker, a young homeless woman wielding scissors.

"After I turn back, I saw she had a knife, not a knife, scissors and she tried chasing me around," Miko said.

"She cut him like this much close to the jugular vein, so I mean if she cut him a little bit closer he'd be dead right now," Olivia said.

The couple says they tried to walk away, but the woman kept following and violently swinging the scissors until others nearby stepped in.

Nearby surveillance video captured the commotion with several men fighting the woman off.

"Some gentleman came and took her wrist and twisted it, and I tried to kick out the scissors," Miko said.

"There are so many great guys, all these wonderful people around, that one guy pushed her down and then she ran back to 8th Avenue," Olivia said.

Miko was taken to Bellevue where he was stitched up and told he's lucky the scissors didn't hit a major artery.

A short time later, police arrested his alleged attacker identified as 30-year-old Alexis Starts.

She's believed to be homeless and is at Bellevue receiving a psychiatric evaluation.

Despite the traumatic incident, Miko says he still feels comfortable in his neighborhood and is especially grateful to all who helped in his time of need.

"Oh thank you, yes I need to go store to store and tell people thank you very much," Miko said.

Police say Starts will be charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.