Brooklyn man arrested after slashing spree previously served time in mental health program

The New York Police Department has arrested the man allegedly responsible for a violent spree of random attacks that took place in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn in April of this year which left 2 women injured and an elderly man dead after the assailant stabbed him in the throat. 

NYPD officials announced Sunday that Joevani Vale, 26, was wanted for the attacks. 

Hours after launching a manhunt Vale was tracked to Maimonides Medical Center where he was detained and arrested. According to The New York Post, sources said Vale appeared to be high but showed no sign of physical injury.

Earlier Monday, investigators had identified Vale from surveillance footage where he was seen stabbing the elderly male victim, Ramon Cintron, 83, and then violently kicking him as he bled out on the floor in the elevator of the apartment building where they both lived. Vale then fled the scene.

The murder was part of an hour-long rampage that Vale, who has a lengthy criminal record of violence in Brooklyn, unleashed over the course of an hour on the borough. 

Vale’s spree started around 1 pm April 8 when Vale approached a 47-year-old woman at the intersection of Pacific Street and Third Ave and violently punched her before fleeing. Next, around 1:30 pm, cops rushed to the scene at nearby 134 Nevins Street after Vale approached a 31-year-old woman outside the apartment building and slashed her in the thigh before running off.

At around 2 pm, police responded to calls from 185 Nevins Street, just a few buildings away, where horrified neighbors had discovered the lifeless body of elderly Cintron, a well-known and beloved member of the community who had lived there for the last 60 years and had just won the lotto.

When police arrived, Cintron's bloodied and bruised body lay on the floor in the building complex elevator, which was stuck as the victim's feet blocked the doors from closing. Cintron sustained a stab wound to the neck, was missing his wallet, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Building surveillance showed Vale entering the building around 1:30 pm. He disappeared from view for 11 minutes and then comes back into view as he returned to the lobby of the building wearing different clothes. Minutes later surveillance shows him entering the elevator with Cintron who, like Vale, lived in the complex. After a short chat, Vale pulled out a knife and stabbed the 83-year-old in his neck before kicking and then escaping the building through a nearby stairwell.

Vale has at least three prior arrests, the most recent of which was slashing Issac Alzarez in a random attack in Brooklyn in September 2020.

In that case, Vale was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, and assault on the 36-year-old Alvarez. 
Vale pleaded guilty in exchange for no jail time and was ordered to undergo a mental health program, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

Vale completed the program in April 2022, prosecutors said.

One year later, a free man, Vale repeated the same acts of random violence with quickness and escalation, this time murdering one of his victims. Vale's criminal history speaks to a glaring rise in crime in the city which many attributes to initiatives put forth by Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg and which has led to a mass exodus from the Big Apple with many moving away to seek refuge from violence.

The incident is one in many of a series that marks a spike in crime in the Big Apple that have left many residents feeling helpless and outraged and NYPD voicing great concern as convicted criminals seem to roam free only to re-offend.