Joevani Vale: NYC serial mugger who killed lottery winner, 83, accused of attacking cop at hospital
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: About a week ago, cops identified a man who fatally stabbed an elderly man and attacked two women in a horrific crime spree in Brooklyn. Joevani Vale, 26, has now been accused of attacking an NYPD cop who was watching over him at the hospital, according to prosecutors. A criminal complaint against him claimed that he sucker-punched the officer in the face “with a closed fist” inside Maimonides Medical Center on Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
The incident reportedly took place as the cop was escorting him to the bathroom. “Where are we going?” Vale reportedly asked the officer, then attacked and punched him. The cop was left with pain and redness. After the attack, Vale now faces five additional charges along with his murder and assault charges.
READ MORE
Homeless thug assaults and robs elderly man, but one hero wasn't letting it go
What is Joevani Vale accused of?
Vale has been accused of fatally stabbing Ramon Cintron, 83. Cintron's body was discovered in the elevator on the 19th floor at 185 Nevins Street. The assault was caught on surveillance video, where Vale can be seen kicking the man before brutally slashing him. Before the murder, Cintron had just hit the lottery.
Sources revealed that the series of events is said to have begun after Vale randomly punched a woman at Pacific Street and Third Avenue. Authorities believe the attacker stabbed a woman in the thigh a block later at 134 Nevins Street. The woman, 31, was rushed to Methodist Hospital for treatment after police responded to a 911 call. Hours later, Cintron's body was discovered, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. He reportedly had stab wounds to the neck and right arm. All of the attacks took place in less than one hour on April 8.
Vale was identified as Cintron's attacker from surveillance footage. Vale and Cintron were neighbors and reportedly lived in the same building in the Wyckoff Gardens public housing complex. A neighbor spotted Cintron lying inside the elevator after Vale had fled and dialed 911. "Flaco, everybody loved him,” the neighbor said of the victim, adding, “He had a lot of heart." “He goes over to that grocery store, Papa Firo, every day and plays the number, and yesterday he was going to collect on a winner,” the neighbor said.
Joevani Vale's previous arrests
Vale has at least three previous arrests, including for allegedly stabbing a 36-year-old man in front of 502 President St in Carroll Gardens. For this, he was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, and assault. He was also charged with forcible touching in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood in 2016. He was accused of public lewdness in the borough’s 84th Precinct, which includes Boerum Hill, in 2015.