Man accused of punching woman in the face on Manhattan street

Mira Wassef
·2 min read
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Man accused of punching woman in the face on Manhattan street

CHELSEA, Manhattan (PIX11) — A man accused of punching a woman in the face on a Manhattan street is the latest bust in a string of unprovoked attacks going viral on social media, police said.

Daquan Armstead, 31, of the Bronx, allegedly assaulted the 23-year-old woman near 541 Sixth Ave. in Chelsea at around 10 a.m. on March 20, accoridng to the NYPD. The woman was punched in the face and taken to the hospital with a nose injury, police said.

Armstead allegedly ran off after the attack before he was recently apprehended, police said. He was charged with assault and harassment in this case and is linked to several other attacks, police allege.

There have been 95 unprovoked attacks this year, and 50 of the victims were women, according to the latest NYPD data. Many of the incidents have gone viral in social media videos.

“There have been instances where a perpetrator was arrested on multiple occasions for patterns. we had one gentleman that just got arrested did it three times in December last year. And, you know, he was arrested again and released,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a briefing last week.

Authorities have arrested Lydia Weil, 40, and Skiboky Stora, 40, for several incidents. Weil is accused of attacking two women, including pressing a lit cigarette on a 51-year-old woman’s face on West 31st Street on March 27, authorities said.

Stora allegedly hit Halley Kate, an influencer with 1.1 million followers on TikTok, in the head while she was walking her dog down West 16th Street last month, according to police and Kate’s TikTok video.

Authorities also said Stora has been accused of attacking other women in the past.

Kate’s posting prompted other women to come forward. Not all of the incidents that were posted to social media have been reported, police said.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.

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