Stranger hits girl at New York’s Grand Central Station days after release in similar attack

A homeless man released without bail after breaking a random woman’s nose then punched a 9-year-old girl in the face at Grand Central Station, MTA officials said.

Jean Carlos Zarzuela, 30, was arrested after allegedly hitting the girl as she stood next to her stunned mother in the police station lunchroom around 11:50 a.m. Saturday, MTA police said. Doctors took the girl to Tisch Hospital at NYU Langone for treatment.

Zarzuela was filmed inside the transit center, and the MTA released his name and photos to the media shortly after Saturday’s attack.

MTA officers knew Zarzuela’s last known address was a homeless shelter on E. 125th St. So they headed to the E. 125th St. subway station on Lexington Ave. Saturday night and asked two NYPD transit officers for help, according to law enforcement. sources.

Sure enough, the NYPD cops recognized his photo and said they saw him about 10 minutes earlier. NYPD transit officers found Zarzuela and took him to MTA officers, who made the arrest around 10:20 p.m.

Zarzuela is also accused of hitting a 56-year-old woman at Grand Central Station on April 4. MTA police officers initially charged him with felonious assault, but Manhattan prosecutors reduced that case to a misdemeanor.

Sources familiar with the matter said the decision was made after police and prosecutors failed to receive a statement from the victim in the case, which is required by law within five days if a bail is set.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Pamela Goldsmith ordered him held on either $2,500 or $10,000 bail. Records show he had an arrest warrant for assault cases in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

On Tuesday, he appeared before Judge Laurie Peterson in Manhattan Criminal Court, according to the court system’s online docket. She released him without bail just four days before the girl’s attack.

“It makes no sense that this man – who was recently released after being accused of randomly punching someone else and breaking their nose – is back in a public space where he can attacking other people, especially children,” the MTA communications director said. » said Tim Minton.

“Those responsible for the criminal justice system must learn the lessons of this episode before more innocent people become victims. »

Zarzuela awaited his arraignment Sunday evening in Manhattan Criminal Court. His lawyer declined to comment.

The attack comes less than four months after another repeat felon was accused of stabbing two teenage sisters visiting New York from Paraguay in Grand Central on Christmas morning.

Steve Hutcherson, 36, who also uses the name Esteban Esono-Asue, allegedly stabbed a 16-year-old girl in the back and her 14-year-old sister in the thigh in an unprovoked attack. He is also accused of punching another Rikers Island inmate while he was being held without bail during the attack.

In an interview with the Daily News, Hutcherson’s ex-girlfriend said his mental health began to deteriorate in June 2021, when he told her he suffered from paranoia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder .