Exclusive: Victim of stabbing in East Village speaks out about unprovoked attack

Police are searching for a man who allegedly stabbed another man in an unprovoked attack in Manhattan earlier this month.

The attack happened in front of a building on E. 7th St. in the East Village just before 11 a.m. on April 9.

In an exclusive interview, Arnaldo Mendinueta told reporter Kemberly Richardson that he had no idea he had just been stabbed in the back.

"I felt something hit me and go in my back but I didn't know what it was until I turned," Mendinueta said.

That's when the 66-year-old saw a man holding a bloody knife standing right next to him.

"He had a big knife," Mendinueta said.

Police say the suspect first stabbed Mendinueta, who said the attacker then shoved him to the ground. He landed on a metal fence around the base of a tree.

"I hit (my) side that's what really hurt. I lost my breath. I can't breathe well. I was on the sidewalk about a minute until got myself together and got up," Mendinueta said.

Mendinueta said he has been in and out of prison, working with his parole officer to get his life back on track, and wonders if the suspect is someone from his past, trying to settle a score.

He was not seriously hurt.

"I consider myself a strong person, besides... it was nothing. A little bump and he ran. He thought he hurt me," he said. "I'm going to be ok. Three stitches - nothing, piece of cake, like a kiss."

Police released surveillance images of the suspect who they say ran from the scene.

He was wearing blue jeans, a dark-colored jacket, a gray hat, and gray and white sneakers.

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