Convicted Killer Arrested in Stabbings

A homeless man who did time for manslaughter was back behind bars this weekend after he was arrested in connection with three stabbings at Penn Station. Police are investigating whether he is connected to a stabbing at Times Square.

Jesse Nettles, 58, a homeless man whose address was given at Bellevue Hospital, was arrested by Metropolitan Transportation Authority officers for allegedly stabbing two employees of TGI Friday's at the train station at 9:40 p.m. Saturday, according to police and Long Island Rail Road officials.

Nettles allegedly fled the restaurant after the stabbing and was arrested within five minutes in the Penn Station concourse. The injuries were not life-threatening and the employees, who were not identified, were being treated at St. Vincent's Hospital, according to a spokesman for the railroad, Sam Zambuto.

"It's pretty surprising," a hotel manager, Rommel Barcos, 36, said as he watched sports on television at TGI Friday's last night. "You got a police station here, a lot of people walking around, military presence, dogs. I feel pretty safe here. I'm sure [the suspect] didn't go far." Mr. Barcos commutes daily from Long Island via Penn Station.

Nettles is also accused of stabbing a 31-year-old patron at the same restaurant at 10:44 p.m. Thursday. The authorities said the victim, a man from Hicksville, Long Island, who was sitting at the bar when he was stabbed, was in a dispute with Nettles just before the assault. He was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital with a punctured liver.

Nettles was charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and reckless endangerment, Mr. Zambuto said.

The suspect is also being investigated with regard to a Times Square stabbing that occurred Saturday night, according to police. A 28-year-old man was stabbed in the neck as he pushed a stroller with two children, ages 5 and 2, through Times Square. The victim, who was stabbed as he walked on Broadway between 42nd and 43rd streets and accidentally bumped his stroller into the suspect, is being treated at St. Vincent's Midtown, police said.

"It obviously makes you a little nervous," a mortgage-fund broker from Dallas passing through Penn Station on business, Aaron Rager, 25, said. "It's my first time to the city, so I certainly didn't expect something like that. From looking around, you would think there would be enough security, but I guess not."

Nettles was incarcerated for first-degree manslaughter at Sing Sing prison from 1975 to 1982 and also has convictions for manslaughter and robbery, according to police and records. The TGI Friday's is located near the ticket booths and its entrance is wide open to the public, like many Penn Station businesses.