A homeless man accused of attacking two Good Samaritans in two separate incidents appeared in court in New York for his arraignment Thursday.
The Daily Mail reports prosecutors accuse Xavier Israel, 25, of assaulting four people in the past two weeks.
In the latest incident, ABC7 reports a Korean American man offered his coat to Israel as he lay shivering on the sidewalk.
Surveillance video shows the man standing up and forcibly throwing the 59-year-old victim to the ground. The homeless man then grabs the other man’s wallet and runs away.
The Korean American man who asked not to be identified then chased the man across the street and says he saw the man stuff the money into his pants.
The victim held the suspect there until police arrived.
The Daily Mail reports Isreal is also accused of attacking two people in Central Park and on Saturday police arrested him for attacking a woman who also was trying to help him.
Each time, authorities released him with an order for him to appear in court at a later date. It’s part of District Attorney’s Alvin Bragg’s policy of not seeking jail time for non-violent or less serious crimes.
The policy has come under attack as being too lenient on criminals since Bragg’s took office one month ago.
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