City Hall Park Hammer Attack - Spanish Tourist's Head Fractured

A Spanish tourist was hit in the head with a hammer in City Hall Park yesterday. The alleged attacker, John Yoos, 43, of Brooklyn, was arrested. July was a particularly violent month in city parks. (Photo: Ellis Washington)

Manhattan

A Spanish tourist was bashed in the head with a hammer by a well-dressed Brooklyn man inside Manhattan’s City Hall Park Monday afternoon, police sources said, according to the New York Daily News.

Hugo Alejandre, 31, who is from Barcelona, was sitting on a bench in the downtown park near Murray Street and Broadway when he was targeted him in an unprovoked attack shortly after 3 p.m., the sources said.

Clad in a suit, John Yoos, 43, of Crown Heights, struck Alejandre with the claw part of the hammer on the left side of his head, just above his eye, police said. The blow fractured his skull.

Alejandre also suffered defensive wounds to his arms and hands, police said. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center and later listed in stable condition, officials said.

Witnesses to the horrifying assault held Yoos until police officers arrived to place him under arrest, cops said.

Police recovered the hammer and charged Yoos with first-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, authorities said.

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Terrifying hammer attack in City Hall Park: Brooklyn man hits Spanish tourist, Hugo Alejandre, 31, in the head, fracturing his skull

New York Daily News - July 30, 2012 - By Sarah Armaghan