A homeless man accused of the brutal stabbings of two victims in separate subway attacks — including an off-duty MTA subway cleaner — spiraled out of control after the first victim stole his blanket and used it to sleep on the train, prosecutors said Thursday.
The stabbing spree kicked off around 9:30 a.m. Jan. 1, when Jamar Banks, 52, was sleeping on an uptown No. 2 train, prosecutors said.
While Banks slept, a 31-year-old man swiped his suitcase, brought it to another car and pulled out a blanket to sleep with. As the train came to a stop at the 14th St. subway station in the West Village, Banks woke up and went looking for his suitcase, prosecutors said.
When Banks spotted the man snoozing with Banks’ blanket, he confronted him, tore it away, and yelled at him while threatening him with a knife. As the man walked away from the fight, Banks stabbed him once in the back, slicing the victim’s lung with a 5-centimeter-deep laceration, according to prosecutors.
The victim staggered to an emergency button and pressed it before he collapsed on the subway car floor. He was then rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he is still being treated for a ruptured lung and internal bleeding.
After the brutal stabbing, Banks fled the station but struck again the following morning around 6:10 a.m. at the Pelham Parkway subway station in the Bronx, where he got into an altercation with a 47-year-old transit worker, authorities said.
During the fight, Banks stabbed the man in the back and armpit. The victim was rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in stable condition.
Cops caught up to Banks on Jan. 5 — two days after they identified him as a suspect in the stabbings. He has more than 80 prior arrests on his record, the Daily News previously reported.
Banks was indicted Thursday and charged with assault and attempted assault. His last address is a homeless shelter in East New York, Brooklyn.