NEW YORK (AP) – A man accused of wielding two cordless power saws in a subway station and slicing into a postal worker’s chest during a pre-dawn rampage was ordered Friday to undergo a psychiatric exam.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Eileen Koretz ordered the examination for Tareyton Williams, 33, of the Bronx, during his arraignment on charges of attempted murder and misdemeanor assault.

Williams, wearing dirty socks but no shoes, entered no plea. His lawyer, Sharyn Henry, had no comment.

A witness told police he recognized Williams as the man who attacked Michael Steinberg early Thursday in a station a few blocks from Columbia University, according to a felony complaint.

“He looked at me and before I knew it he was attacking me,” Steinberg told reporters Thursday. “The motor kept going on. He was trying to cut through me. … I screamed for help – ‘Please help! Please help me!”‘

The attacker finally paused to demand money, then bolted out of the station.

Steinberg, 64, suffered cuts and punctures on his chest and torso, broken ribs, a punctured lung and other injuries, the complaint says. He was at a hospital in stable condition.

The saws came from a cart being used by workers who were upgrading the station’s public address system. They were later found in a trash can.

Police arrested Williams about two hours later, after another person was punched on a street. The defendant was charged with misdemeanor assault in that attack.

Assistant District Attorney James Williamson said Williams admitted he had punched the man and apologized.

The attack came two weeks after a Boston man was charged with stabbing four people – three of them tourists – over a 13-hour period in the subway and the theater district in Manhattan.

Copy the Story Link