Knife-wielding Times Square maniac arrested again in domestic case: prosecutors
The blade-wielding creep, who was caught on camera stalking a group of musicians in Times Square last month, has been arrested again – this time for allegedly smashing down his mother’s front door, The Post has learned has.
Deqon Massiah, who was released under custody after the harrowing incident at the Crossroads of the World on July 12, turned up at his mother’s home at NYCHA’s WSUR (Brownstones) Houses on the Upper West Side on Sunday, according to law enforcement officials.
His mother told police officers she did not answer his knock because she was concerned her son, who has a mental illness, might hurt her, the sources said.
Massiah, 22, reportedly got angry and began kicking the door, causing it to swing open and causing $60 in damage, according to sources.
He was arrested in the lobby of the building on Amsterdam Avenue near West 88th Street and charged with criminal mischief and criminal possession of knives or dangerous instruments.
During his arraignment Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court, he was ordered to post $2,000 bail, $10,000 insurance company bail or $15,000 partially secured surety bond.
The judge also held him without bail in connection with a fugitive case related to his probationary status in Georgia.
Sources say he is on probation on a sex offender case in Peach State.
Massiah is charged in the Times Square case with threats, harassment and criminal possession of weapons.
Photographer Richard Moore, who captured the disturbing scene, said he saw the distraught man standing on a granite bench on Broadway between West 43rd and 44th Streets around 10 a.m. while pointing a knife at tourists and inexplicably screamed.
The blade-armed man then jumped off the bench and began stalking the cast, Moore told The Post at the time.
“I noticed that he had this knife in one hand and he got close enough to one of the musicians to put his other hand on his shoulder,” Moore said.
Thinking the worst, the photographer said to himself, “This isn’t going to be good.”
But then the unpredictable man suddenly took a step back and returned to his place on the bench.
Moore said he called 911 after witnessing the creepy encounter – and waited about 12 minutes for police to arrive.
“The police caught him from behind … I don’t know if they grabbed the knife or if he dropped it,” he said.
“It was resolved very peacefully and quickly,” Moore added. “They got him down safely for him and others.”
During his arraignment in the case, prosecutors recommended that Massiah be released on the charge, which does not qualify for bail.
The judge agreed but said “the highest level of surveillance was appropriate”.
After Sunday’s incident, Massiah’s mother told police her son doesn’t live with her but she sometimes took him to her house to feed him because it was on her food stamps, sources said.
