Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the indictment of MICHAEL HOWELL, 33, for attacking three individuals with glass bottles in a Midtown Whole Foods and subway station in October 2023. HOWELL is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of Assault in the First Degree, one count of Attempted Assault in the First Degree, and three counts of Assault in the Second Degree.
“As alleged, Michael Howell attacked three New Yorkers with glass bottles as they were just trying to go about their regular evening,” said District Attorney Bragg. “No one should have to experience this type of violence in a Manhattan grocery store or subway station, and I hope the victims fully recover from their injuries.”
According to court documents and statements made on the record, on October 5, 2023, at approximately 6:30 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of the Whole Foods Market on 6th Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets, HOWELL hit a 24-year-old man in the face and head with a glass bottle with so much force that the bottle shattered. Less than five minutes later, HOWELL entered the store, retrieved another glass bottle, and hit a 49-year-old woman in the head and face in front of a food counter, again causing the bottle to shatter. Approximately 20 minutes later, after riding the subway one stop uptown, HOWELL repeatedly struck a 55-year-old woman in the head with another glass bottle inside a train car that was stopped at the Rockefeller Center station.
All three victims were treated at the scene and in the hospital for bleeding cuts and other wounds to their heads, faces, and bodies.
Defendant Information:
MICHAEL HOWELL
New York, New York
Charged:
- Assault in the First Degree, two counts
- Attempted Assault in the First Degree, two counts
- Assault in the Second Degree, three counts
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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court