A nine-year-old girl became the victim of an unprovoked attack in the heart of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. The assailant, identified as 30-year-old Jose Carlos Zarzuela, was apprehended following the attack that occurred in the terminal’s bustling dining area.
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Police Department, Zarzuela, a recently released offender with a history of similar violent behavior, approached the young girl as she was standing near her mother and punched her in the face without any warning, amNY reported.
The impact of the assault caused the girl to suffer from pain and dizziness, necessitating her transportation to NYU Langone-Tisch Hospital. Thankfully, she is expected to recover fully from her injuries.
MTA Communications Director Tim Minton expressed outrage over the incident to amNY, questioning the recent release of Zarzuela, who had been charged with another random attack that resulted in a broken nose for the victim.
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“It doesn’t make any sense that this guy — who recently was released after being charged with randomly punching someone else and breaking that victim’s nose — should be back in a public space where he can attack others, especially children,” Minton said.
“The people responsible for the criminal justice system need to learn from this episode before more innocent people become victims.”
After assaulting the girl, Zarzuela fled the scene but was later located and arrested in the evening. Surveillance footage from the terminal captured Zarzuela meandering near a Shake Shack before running onto the street post-attack.
Zarzuela has been charged with an array of offenses, including aggravated assault of a victim under 11, second-degree assault, third-degree assault, and attempted assault. His history with the law extends to eight other arrests, as indicated by sources close to the investigation.
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This latest incident follows an assault by Zarzuela on April 4, where he attacked a 54-year-old woman at Grand Central Terminal, resulting in a broken nose. Despite being initially charged with second-degree felony assault, his charge was reduced to third-degree misdemeanor assault, and after initially setting bail at 10,000, which was reduced to 2,500, Judge Laurie Peterson ordered his release without bail days later.
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In that incident, MTA Police sources said, Zarzuela allegedly punched the victim in the face without provocation or warning, breaking her nose. MTA Police officers arrested him on the spot and booked him on a second-degree felony assault charge.
But that charge was downgraded to a third-degree misdemeanor assault count when Zarzuela appeared in New York County Criminal Court for arraignment later that day, according to court records. Prosecutors had requested that he remain behind bars on $10,000 bail; sources said that bail had been reduced to $2,500, which Zarzuela could not make.
However, five days later at a follow-up hearing, Judge Laurie Peterson ordered Zarzuela released from custody without bail, court records noted.
Peterson, who had ordered former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg to serve a five-month sentence for perjury last week in connection with the former president’s civil fraud trial, gained notoriety in 2020 when she set free an individual accused of a bloody attack on a police officer amid the George Floyd protests that summer.