Justice in the Banana Republic of Manhattan
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Jean Carlos Zarzuela, 30, who was free without bail despite allegedly punching an elderly woman earlier this month, was hauled out of a Manhattan precinct in handcuffs Sunday to face a court arraignment in the latest shocking attack, according to MTA police.
Zarzuela is accused of approaching the little girl, a Bronx resident, around 11:50 a.m. inside the historic terminal and punching her without warning, cops said.
Zarzuela, who initially fled the scene, is already facing assault charges for allegedly punching an elderly woman in the head on April 4, according to court records.
He was arraigned on assault, reckless endangerment and harassment charges in that case — but released without bail by Manhattan Judge Laurie Peterson, records show.
Peterson made headlines in 2020 when she released an accused looter who smashed an NYPD cop in the head with a glass bong, The Post reported at the time.
Manhattan prosecutors had asked that suspect Kevin Bullock, 22, be held on $25,000 cash bail or a $75,000 bond in that case but Peterson instead cut him loose without bail.
In 2016, Peterson also released another suspect charged with a random attack on a woman in Greenwich Village.
Once free, the career criminal was busted for allegedly slashing two other women.
To be fair, Judge Peterson has no qualms about consigning defendants to Ricker’s Island when the safety of the country depends on it, and the perp has ties to Donald Trump: just this past Thursday, she sentenced 76-year-old Trump CFO Allen Wesselberg to another 5 months imprisonment in Ricker’s Island; this after he’d served three months in 2023.
