Man stabbed in head with screwdriver in Times Square over cigarette
A man was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver by a stranger during a Times Square clash over a cigarette snub, police said Wednesday.
The 31-year-old victim was outside a parking garage on W. 43rd St. near Seventh Ave. when a stranger walked up and asked to bum a smoke about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, cops said.
When the victim refused to hand one over an argument broke out, witnesses told police.
The two began fighting and the stranger whipped out a screwdriver and jammed it into his rival’s head, cops said.
Medics took the victim to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
The attacker ran off toward Sixth Ave. and has not been caught, cops said. He’s believed to be in his 30s and was wearing a dark-colored jacket and dark jeans.
The incident comes as assaults in that section of Time Square have dropped by 37% in the first three weeks of the year.
As of Jan. 21, 27 violent assaults have been reported in the Midtown South precinct, which includes the southern half of Times Square. By the same point last year, 43 assaults have been reported.
