BRONX, New York — Mostafa Tunkara was just walking home when he saw something he could not ignore.
A man was hitting a woman near East 187th Street and Webster Avenue. He knocked her to the pavement, kicked her in the face and smashed her phone.
Mostafa, 16, and three friends decided to chase him.
They almost caught up. But what happened next left Mostafa with staples in his head — and a very different outlook on stepping in for strangers.
“I Just Wanted to Help Her”
As the teens closed in, the suspect turned violent. He slashed one teen across the face. When Mostafa tripped and stood back up, the man stabbed him near the hairline with a scalpel.
“I didn’t see the weapon before he stabbed me,” Mostafa said. “If he had touched my neck or anything, I probably would have died.”
Mostafa needed multiple staples to close the wound. His friend needed 15 stitches. Both were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, treated and released.
Suspect Now Facing Multiple Charges
The suspect, 28-year-old Jon Arce, was charged with first-degree assault, attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment. He pleaded not guilty in Bronx Criminal Court.
A judge set bail at $100,000 cash or $250,000 bond. Arce is currently held at Rikers Island awaiting trial.
The woman the teens tried to protect was never identified by police.
A Father Left With Questions
Mostafa’s father, who works at Montefiore Medical Center, came home from a mosque to find his son in the hospital.
“I asked, ‘Why are you fighting like that?'” he said. “I tell him, after six or seven o’clock, don’t leave home.”
Mostafa, born in the Bronx to parents from Gambia, said he does not regret wanting to help — but the experience has shaken him.
“I just wanted to help her,” he said. “But I’m not sure I would do it again.”
Would you have stepped in? Share your thoughts in the comments — this story is sparking a real conversation.
