Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the sentencing of Michael Howell, a 34-year-old man implicated in a series of violent assaults involving glass bottles in Midtown Manhattan yesterday. According to the report from the Manhattan DA's Office, Howell received a five-year sentence in state prison after pleading guilty to three counts of Assault in the Second Degree. The string of assaults took place in October 2023 and targeted unsuspecting victims in a public space and aboard the subway.

DA Bragg's office described the incidents as rather terrifying, random acts that shook the evening commute. "Michael Howell will now serve a prison sentence for his attacks on three New Yorkers with glass bottles," Bragg was quoted. The DA expressed his stance on violence, stating, “These were scary, random assaults that occurred at a busy time of evening, and we will not tolerate these types of violent attacks on Manhattanites. I know many of the victims are still living with the trauma of the attacks and I hope this sentencing can provide them a measure of closure,” as noted by the Manhattan DA's Office.

The attacks, as detailed in court records, occurred in quick succession on October 5, 2023. Howell first assaulted a 24-year-old man with such force that the glass shattered upon impact, causing severe injury. Minutes later, he entered a Whole Foods Market and struck a 49-year-old woman in the head with another bottle. His spree continued as he moved uptown, where he proceeded to repeatedly hit a 55-year-old woman with a bottle in a train car at the Rockefeller Center station. Each victim was left with significant wounds and had to be treated for bleeding cuts inflicted during the assaults.

All three victims were administered medical treatment at the scene before being transported to the hospital for further care. The DA's statement highlighted the severity of the injuries, focusing specifically on the cuts and wounds to the victims' heads, faces, and bodies.