WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) — A coffee shop manager in Washington Heights is being hailed as a hero for helping save a man who was attacked and stabbed by a group of men on Tuesday.
Juan Reyes, who runs Milo Coffee Shop, had just opened up his store before 6:30 a.m. when a man came flying through the door with no shirt on running for his life.
The man being attacked had been chased across the bridge at 181st Street from the Bronx.
“He came running and seven people were chasing him,” Reyes told Eyewitness News. “Four of them came inside and followed the guy to the back.”
The chaotic scene — caught on surveillance video — had baristas jumping over the counter, and friends and family from neighboring businesses came to help.
Reyes grabbed whatever he could find nearby to defend himself and keep the men with knives from killing the man who ran in. He had never seen any of them before.
“They stabbed him seven times,” added Reyes. “There were just two guys who were continuously stabbing him. They were determined to take his life with hate.”
The 39-year-old victim suffered a severe neck injury and was transported to Harlem Hospital.
Police say no arrests have been made.
The near-deadly incident was another example of violence pouring through the door of a business that had nothing to do with it.
“If I don’t act, he’d be dead absolutely,” said Reyes.
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