The maniac who went on a violent rampage starting at a Whole Foods across from Bryant Park on Thursday was busted at least seven previous times, most recently in late August, law-enforcement sources said Friday.
Michael Howell, 32 — whose alleged unprovoked attack with a glass bottle caused mayhem and bloodshed during the evening rush — appeared dazed as cops led him out of Midtown Precinct South in Manhattan on Friday and into the back of a squad car to head to court for his arraignment.
The Manhattan man is charged with three counts of assault stemming from the rampage, which began outside the Whole Foods Market in Midtown across from the popular park and ended when he was nabbed after bashing a woman over the head on a train, police said.
Sources said Howell’s previous arrests are for assault and petit larceny, including his most recent bust Aug. 24, when he was nabbed for allegedly stealing $189 worth of clothing and household items from the TJ Maxx at Columbus Circle and Broadway.
Thursday’s spree of violence started around 6:40 p.m., when the suspect bashed a 23-year-old man with a bottle outside the Whole Foods, cops said. He then entered the store, where he attacked a 49-year-old woman on the second floor, authorities said.
The assailant then fled outside and into the Rockefeller Street subway station at 47th Street and Sixth Avenue, where he struck a 55-year-old woman on the train. All three victims were hospitalized in stable condition, police said. He was eventually apprehended.
Photos from the incident show a woman being wheeled into an ambulance, her head wrapped in bandages and her face streaked with blood.
Another snapshot shows a man nursing a head injury in the back of an ambulance as an NYPD officer offers assistance.