Subway Pipe Attacker Slapped With Felony Assault Charges

TRIBECA, NY — Prosecutors charged the panhandler who police say bludgeoned a subway rider with a metal pipe after the "unjustified, brutal attack" fractured the victim's skull, a prosecutor said at the early Tuesday arraignment, reported the New York Post.

Geovannie Nieves, 35, was charged with first degree assault with a weapon and other charges in connection to the Saturday attack with a metal pipe on a Tribeca 2 train that hospitalized a 59-year-old man.

“This is an unjustified brutal attack on a civilian who was riding the subway,” prosecutor Shayna Dunning said during the 12:30 a.m. court apperance, reported the Post. “The defendant was begging for money and when the complainant refused, the defendant became irate.”

Nieves faces between five to 25 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges. He was held on $150,000 bail despite his lawyer asking for a lower amount, arguing that he does not pose a flight risk because he is married with two young children and was arrested "without any issue," the newspaper reported.

The victim, Michael Vansluytman, detailed the bloody attack to the New York Post. Nieves is due back in court on Friday.

Photo courtesy of NYPD