An unhinged homeless man stabbed a good Samaritan in the arm with scissors after the bystander tried to help a woman getting kicked by the attacker, cops and the victim said.
Box truck driver Joseph Rivera was on his way to drop off a delivery when he witnessed a bearded brute kicking an unsuspecting woman walking by him in an unprovoked attack near Fulton Street and South Street around 8:30 a.m.
“I said, ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ When I said something to distract him, he rushed towards my truck and tried to jump into the window,” Rivera, 36, told The Post.
“When he tried to jump into the window, I thought he tried to grab me but what he really did was stab me in the arm with a little pair of surgical scissors.”
Rivera, a Staten Island dad of an 8-year-old girl, parked the truck and leapt into action despite being left with a bloody arm.
“I was just defending that lady that I saw get attacked,” he recounted.
“I have a mother, I have a daughter … so I want someone to do the same for them.”
He confronted the man as he allegedly tried stabbing more victims including an older woman, Rivera said.
“I shouted, ‘Come mess with someone that’s able to defend themself.’”
That’s when the scissor-wielding perp rushed towards him again, but veered away and tried to slash two other men, according to Rivera.
He and another man eventually took him down to the ground while they waited for police.
Cops arrested the 50-year-old homeless man at the scene and led him away into the back of an ambulance, photos by a Post photographer show.
The suspect’s identity is unknown and he was later charged with assault, according to cops and sources.
Rivera said he was happy to help.
“I’m just glad we were able to get the police to take him off the street before he hurt someone else really bad.”
Additional reporting by Joe Marino
