Man Stabbed When Trying to Protect Pregnant Woman

A violent scene unfolded on the platform of the 23rd Street and 6th Avenue F train yesterday afternoon when a person was stabbed by a homeless man. Clarence Carter Cochran had a steak knife plunged into his chest when he tried to stop the homeless man from bothering a pregnant friend.

According to the Post, Cochran and his friend were talking when Herron Wilson, "who was screaming wildly, lunged at the woman and spit on her." Cochran allegedly yelled, "Did you really just spit? You spit on a pregnant lady!" and got into a fight with Wilson. Wilson took out his knife, stabbed Cochran and ran out the station.

Witness Tony Hayes said the victim "was bleeding like crazy" as he chased his attacker out of the station.

When Wilson emerged from the station, a crowd ran after him. He was charged last night with assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

"People chased him," said witness David Thomas. "They knocked him to the ground and held him until police came."

Wilson previously had served 11 years in prison for manslaughter. And Cochran is recovering from his wounds at St. Vincent's Hospital.

Photograph by selyfriday on Flickr

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 17, 2008 1:25 PM

Comments [rss]

sonyactivision

Fifty years ago, that homeless guy would have been locked away in a forensic ward at Creedmoor or Pilgrim awaiting his lobotomy. Today, he's out there stabbing people on a subway platform.Everybody hates mental institutions...but they love this?

Think2wice

Goddamn vagrant nutjobs. Who on earth decides that they're fit to be out on the streets.

bitternative

11 years of shelter and food at the taxpayers' expense just so a violent person can go out again and attempt another killing doesn't make sense at all... I have no answer, just frustration.

Jerky

Another good reason to kill the homeless!

Spirit of 76

All these same old arguments that "these creeps would think twice if everyone had guns" are as dumb as they've ever been. Man is a creature of passion, prone to impulsive, spur of the moment actions. They're not even thinking once in these situations, so they wouldn't be thinking twice.

neoconfascist

Ha, he'll think twice next time he wants to be a hero in front of a woman!

Snoopy

They should have thrown him on the tracks. Let the TA do their job. If the guy tried to climb back up to the platform kick him in the face.

Eoin MacNeill

And to answer your question Alex, I am all for more violence if in final analysis less law abiding citizens are the victim of violent crimes.

slappy

A fully armed citizen is no longer a citizen. It s called an army of one. And BTW, just what we all need: People losing thier tempers and shooting each other.

Ah, well. We are all too familiar with the arguments on both sides. The road is long.

Eoin MacNeill

Alex, if you tried to hit me with your car I would shoot you. I would shoot you as many times as it took to make you stop trying to him me with your car. (Though the bell case is more complicated than either of our analysis of the situation). If you try to scare me in to the street, I would shoot you. If you spat at my pregnant companion I would pull my gun, and if you tried to menace me I would shoot you. If you, with a group of other miscreants, assaulted me for not reason, I would shoot you, and then train my pistol on the one in the group that looked like the alpha (happened to my friend, without the ability to defend himself, so he was just a victim). If you assaulted and battered me on the subway while using racial epitaphs (happened to me), I would shoot you. I think I am a reasonable person, and I think other law abiding citizens would act in a reasonable manner as well. That is why they are law-abiding, they are reasonable.

Alex

Once everyone has guns, there will be no more gun violence. Makes a lot of sense right?

Even if "ordinary law-abiding citizens" were the only ones with the guns, do you think these people could think fast and responsibly in such a situation?

The Sean Bell situation is proof of this. Well-trained police couldn't even know not to shoot an unarmed man 50 times.

JacqueMehoff

having every passenger pull out their guns for a situation like this is a bad idea.

we should do what every ny'er does and just keep our head down and mind our own business.

I'm seeing more homeless out on the streets and I'm always going to be on their side.

thankfully Pb is still cheap.

Eoin MacNeill

More than this specific situation, an armed citizenry would prevent situations, like this one, where ordinary law-abiding citizens are at the caprice of the deranged. This homeless man, as a convicted felon, would be no more likely to have a concealed weapon with a reasonable concealed carry policy than under the present gun control scheme. And if every purse and sport jacket could legally conceal a pistol the dregs would do a great deal less menacing as a point of self-preservation.

Alex, it is likely that if a gun were carried by Cochran he would have produced it when the homeless man lunged at the pregnant woman. Long before the scuffle.

spreetaper

and there you just assuming one person would have a gun.. what if there was someone else too who pulled out a gun

crossfire!

why not just a stun gun :)

rocketattackusa

@ Eoin MacNeill

Yeah, that would've been great, a guy opening fire on a crowded subway platform. Can't see how that would go bad at all.

Alex

Yeah, because I'm sure he'd have time to pull out a gun and get off a clean shot while the bum lunges at him.

Eoin MacNeill

This is a good argument for a reasonable concealed carry law. This good man could have be able to say "steak knife, how cute," and aided this scum in shuffling off the mortal coil.

palestine

Good samaritans all around and a solid story all around, I'll just hate it if the media blows this up which they probably will.

Brouhaha

Yeah, he could have still had a salad fork or dessert spoon on him!

Dave Hogarty

Chivalry is not dead, just a little perforated. And my hat's off to the bystanders who chased the stabber down and tackled him. That's pretty ballsy considering he just plunged a steak knife into a guy's chest.