Luciana Pricop 33 ax attack hacking a pal’s leg on E. 85th St. and York Ave
Woman charged with assault after allegedly slashing a friend's leg with an ax during strange Upper East Side rampage.
Cops charged a woman with assault on Tuesday after she allegedly hacked a friend's leg with an ax, then took over an Upper East Side magazine shop and barricaded herself inside an elevator during a strange rampage on the Upper East Side, officials said.
Luciana Pricop, 33, was arrested following a bizarre series of events that started Monday night on E. 85th St. and York Ave.
Pricop, who lives on the Upper West Side, got into an altercation with a 28-year-old woman around 8 p.m. inside a mutual friend's house, cops said. According to officials, she reportedly hit the woman with a small hatchet, causing a gash in the woman's right shin.
According to cops, she then crawled out a window and scrambled up the fire escape to the roof. When she returned to ground level, she came face to face with International News and Magazines on E. 86th St., frightening a clerk inside.
The Daily News obtained video footage of Pricop milling around inside the store and picking something from the shelf.
As she turned to the frightened clerk, the insane woman grabbed two packs of cigarettes.
“These are thirty dollars,” she said. “I will repay you.”
“I am familiar with her as a client. Her hands were bloodstained. “She was armed with an ax,” the clerk, who declined to give his name, said. “She entered my shop and requested assistance. They are on their way to murder me.' She was constantly speaking of 'the pet, the cat, they're going to kill the cat.'"
“She was a lovely lady. I'm still in disbelief that she did this. We used to discuss stocks,” he said.
Pricop bolted from the store and hopped onto an M86 bus, but exited after only one block. She then rushed into an apartment building on E. 86th St. near York Ave. and begged a doorman for assistance.
“She exclaimed, 'Hide me!' "I said, 'No, you have an ax!'" the stunned doorman explained to The News. “Then she dashed into the elevator and slammed the door shut. I was eavesdropping.”
Around 20 minutes later, the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit coaxed her out of the elevator and arrested her.
The arraignment of Pricop in Manhattan Criminal Court was scheduled for Tuesday.