Crazed man punches French vacationer within the head outdoors Midtown Burger King

A crazed Brooklynite randomly punched a French vacationer within the head in Midtown Saturday morning, sending the sufferer careening head-first right into a stone step, in response to police sources and video of the assault — simply days after he allegedly attacked an aged man within the East Village.

Philippe Mary, 60, of Talence, France, was strolling previous the Burger King on West forty second Avenue between eighth and ninth avenues at about 9:30 a.m. when the alleged attacker — Norman Nelson, 49, of Brooklyn — crept up behind him and launched a left hook together with his head, surveillance video of the incident confirmed.

The impression despatched Mary sprawling, and he appeared to slam his head on a step proper close to the restaurant’s entrance, the video confirmed.

Two different folks — together with one man who was strolling alongside Mary — instantly went after the brute, and the three received right into a bus-lane scuffle that ended when Nelson wandered away.

The vacationer — who bounced to his ft after getting hit — then walked again over to the step and leaned over as his compatriots tried to assist him, the video confirmed.

Cops later arrested Nelson, a recidivist offender with at the least six prior arrests — and hit him with third-degree assault, aggravated harassment and different expenses, in response to sources and court docket data.  

In the meantime, Mary was delivered to Bellevue Hospital so medical doctors might have a look at a laceration on his brow and the bloody nostril he’d suffered, sources informed The Publish.

Nelson can be dealing with expenses for an unrelated incident on Aug. 6, when he allegedly hit an 81-year-old man within the head with a crate simply earlier than midday on East 14th Avenue, sources stated.

The aged sufferer, Peter Bardazzi of Gramercy Park, was delivered to NYU Hospital for remedy.

Nelson was charged with second-degree assault and third-degree assault with intent to trigger bodily harm for that assault.

A supervisor on the Burger King lamented on Sunday the state of the Midtown neighborhood, saying the assault was emblematic of issues he’d had with the world’s homeless.

“We at all times have issues with them — they’re violent,” stated the supervisor, who declined to be named. “They’re the identical ones that get excessive after which come and right here … It’s very harmful strolling down this road.” 

Most of Nelson’s different prior arrests have largely been for fare evasion, police sources stated.  

Manhattan’s West Facet has been the topic of scrutiny these days as unstable, strung-out weirdos have swamped the streets and menaced locals and vacationers alike.

The scenario has changed into a full-blown “humanitarian disaster” that’s left the thickly trafficked space in shambles, Councilman Eric Bottcher wrote in a latest letter to the mayor asking for help.

“Our neighborhoods need assistance proper now,” he stated. “The established order can’t be allowed to proceed.”