The homeless ex-con accused of punching actor Rick Moranis has allegedly been randomly attacking strangers in New York City for the past six months, the New York Post reported.
At a Manhattan Criminal Court hearing late Sunday, Marquis Ventura, 35, was charged with five assaults on strangers that took place in the last six months, according to The Post.
Ventura, who is a Manhattan resident with a history of 13 arrests, including five for felonies, allegedly attacked the owner of a liquor store in Soho hours after he punched Moranis in the face on Oct 1 in what police called a “random, unprovoked assault.” When Ventura was “confronted by the store owner, the defendant threw the bottle at the store owner and then proceeded to repeatedly punch him above the head,” as per The Post.
After the assault, Moranis who is well known for his roles in movies like “Ghostbusters,” “Spaceballs” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” went to hospital with complaints of pain in his head, back and right hip. On Friday afternoon, he was said to be recovering well from his injuries
Judge Nicholas Moyne ordered a psychiatric examination for Ventura.
An attorney for Ventura, Autumn Levine, told the judge Sunday night that her client suffers from schizophrenia.
“He was in the psych ward in seven different states . . . diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and has been without his medication,” Levine said.
Ventura was arrested Saturday night at 96th Street and Broadway subway station. Charges naming him as a suspect in other assaults were not known until yesterday’s hearing.