Good Samaritan mugged and knocked down by NYC homeless man after giving him coat

A Good Samaritan was knocked to the ground and mugged in New York City by a homeless man after giving him a coat on Wednesday, the third assault arrest for the attacker in two weeks as he repeatedly skirts jail due to the new District Attorney’s ‘woke’ policies.

Surveillance video of the incident shows the unidentified 59-year-old victim as he  tried to help 25-year-old Xavier Israel, who had been lying on the sidewalk at 476 5th Avenue around 8 p.m. on a particularly cold evening, footage obtained by the New York Post shows.

The victim gently places a jacket he was wearing on Israel before the homeless man springs up and pushes him into the ground.

Israel took the man’s wallet from his back pants pocket while he was on the ground before fleeing the scene.  

The victim attempts to get his wallet back before Israel punches him and throws him back to the ground, video shows.   

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Xavier Israel had been lying on the sidewalk on 5th Avenue around 8 pm when he punched and robbed a 59-year-old Good Samaritan who tried to give him his coat, surveillance video shows

The 25-year-old Israel can be seen attacking the Good Samaritan who gave him a coat

The victim can be seen on the ground after being pummeled by Israel, left, Israel ran off with the man’s wallet, which had $1500 cash in it after police recovered it during his arrest, right

Israel was arrested shortly after on West 41st Street and 5th Avenue, the Post reported. 

Authorities quoted witnesses as saying that Israel had stuffed his pants with cash.

Officers ended up recovering almost $1,500 from him.  

Israel was charged with assault, robbery and grand larceny, sources told the outlet.  

The victim reportedly refused medical attention at the scene.  

The attack and robbery is the second in less than a week from Israel, who similarly attacked another Good Samaritan on Saturday, when he beat up a 49-year-old woman who was trying to offer him help outside of East 81st Street.  

The man tried in vain to get his wallet back, but Israel once again punched the victim to the ground

Israel fleeing the scene before he was arrested shortly after on West 41 Street and 5th Avenue

The unnamed victim in that case was also pushed to the ground during the attack and received a cut on her elbow in the fall.

Israel was arrested in that incident, too, and got slapped with similar charges of assault before being released on a desk appearance ticket. 

The violent rap sheet shows he assaulted two other people, a man and a woman, at Central Park on January 2.    

The Post reported that Israel randomly punched the two 18-year-olds as they sat on a rock inside the park, a case where he had again been charged with assault.   

It’s another embarrassment for new DA Alvin Bragg, who has spent most of his first month in office under fire over his soft-on-crime policies, which include calling on prosecutors to ditch felony armed robbery charges and instead charge suspects with petit larceny and not seeking carceral sentences for criminals.  

Bragg has been criticized for a new policy to downgrade felony crimes such as burglary, armed robbery and drug dealing 

Since 2020, crime in New York has soared thanks to a combination of laxed bail reforms and lack of police

First-degree robbery in New York State carries a sentence of between five and 25 years in a state prison, but petit larceny carries a maximum sentence of just one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. 

Robbery has been on a huge increase in the Big Apple since the beginning of the year. Through January 9, 354 were reported across the city, up 25 percent from 238 in the same period in 2021. 

A former Manhattan DA called Bragg’s policies ‘an affront to every law-abiding citizen.’

‘Violent criminals now have carte blanche to re-offend, knowing full well that they will never again sniff the inside of a jail cell,’ former Manhattan assistant DA Daniel Ollen said.

‘If you thought things couldn’t get any worse, think again. God help us.’

Bragg was elected Manhattan DA in November after winning a crowded primary in June.