Attacker Sentenced For String Of Glass Bottle Assaults In Midtown: DA

MIDTOWN, NY — A New York man has been sentenced to five years in prison for a series of attacks in 2023 where he smashed three glass bottles over three people's heads in Midtown, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

According to Bragg, Michael Howell, 34, first hit a 24-year-old man in the face with a glass bottle with so much force that the bottle shattered at 6:30 p.m. outside of the Whole Foods Market on Sixth Avenue between West 41st Street and West 42nd Street on Oct. 5, 2023.

Less than five minutes later, Howell went into the store, grabbed another glass bottle, and hit a 49-year-old woman in the face with it in front of a food counter, also causing the bottle to shatter, Bragg said.

Then, Howell rode the subway one stop up to Rockefeller Center station, where he repeatedly struck another woman, 55, in the head with a glass bottle while still inside the subway car, Bragg said.

All three victims were treated at the scene and in the hospital for bleeding cuts and other wounds to their heads, faces, and bodies, Bragg said.

“These were scary, random assaults that occurred at a busy time of evening, and we will not tolerate these types of violent attacks on Manhattanites," Bragg said. "I know many of the victims are still living with the trauma of the attacks and I hope this sentencing can provide them a measure of closure."

Howell pleaded guilty to three counts of assault in the second degree, and was sentenced to five years in state prison on Friday.

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