A Manhattan couple was stabbed and critically injured Monday morning by an upstairs neighbor inside their Manhattan apartment building, police sources and neighbors said.
A man, whom police described as emotionally disturbed, was inside 1 Haven Plaza in the East Village and ran downstairs to the eighth floor, where he stabbed the duo after a dispute around 8:30 a.m., sources said.
The suspect, in his 30s, who neighbors say lives on the 19th floor with his mother and suffers from mental-health issues, was taken into police custody after he led officers on a brief chase.
Neighbor Albert Byrnes, 50, was in the lobby of the apartment building when he saw both injured victims as they exited the elevator.
The father had visible stab wounds on his face and body and the woman was lying face down on the floor, naked and covered in blood, Byrnes said.
He said the male victim, whom he only identified as “Danny,” called out for his help.
“Help me! Jason stabbed me!” Byrnes recalled the man shouting.
Paramedics rushed both victims to Bellevue Hospital, where they underwent surgery.
Neighbors said the suspect has been off his medication.
Maria Sostre, 29, who lives in the building near East 12th Street, said she saw the suspect run out of the building wearing bloodied jeans before police nabbed him.
Neighbors alerted police of the suspect’s whereabouts by yelling, “That’s him! He just went into 3 Haven [Plaza]” before cops apprehended him.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona