The victim of a bloody stabbing in a Harlem subway station was coming home from work when he was attacked unprovoked by the stranger — and would have been killed if good Samaritans had not intervened, prosecutors said Thursday.
The 56-year-old victim was waiting on the uptown platform at the W. 125th St. station when Victor Solis struck him from behind without warning about 4 p.m. Tuesday, prosecutors said.
When the victim spun around, Solis, 58, of Inwood, brandished a large serrated knife and allegedly stabbed the victim in the neck, shoulder, hand, torso and elsewhere.
Solis eventually ended up on top of the victim while continuing to furiously stab him, prosecutors said. The attack only stopped when a good Samaritan intervened, pulling Solis off the victim and disarming him, according to prosecutors.
Solis then tried to flee into the subway tunnel but bystanders held onto him until cops arrived a few minutes later and arrested him.
The victim staggered up to the mezzanine before collapsing at a turnstile, according to an MTA worker.
“He was unconscious,” the worker told the Daily News. “He was bleeding from his face, shoulder and body. Blood everywhere. It looked bad.”
Medics rushed the victim to Mount Sinai Morningside, where he underwent emergency surgery and is now in stable condition, officials said.
A detective found the bloodstained knife in Solis’ bag when the suspect was arrested at the scene according to the criminal complaint against Solis.
He is charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal weapons possession.
Solis, 58, does not have a criminal record. Despite this apparently being his first offense, prosecutors requested he be held without bail given his attempt to flee and the terrifying random nature of the attack, which was witnessed by several people.
The judge set bail at $100,000. Solis is due back in court July 7.