As police closed in on the woman wanted in the grisly stabbing of an Upper East Side juice shop worker, prosecutors say the suspect ran from cops, fleeing from her apartment building’s fire escape with a bag full of evidence before being captured.
During 23-year-old Chala Jamison’s arraignment on a charge of attempted murder, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office revealed stunning new details of the violent crime that unfolded inside Juice Island on Wednesday, April 12th, and the efforts she took to keep from getting caught.
As Upper East Site first reported last week, staff at Juice Island, located at 1025 Lexington Avenue, between East 60th and 61st Street, explained that the stabbing suspect was a customer who had come in and ordered a smoothie, but did not have enough money to pay for the drink.
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After getting into an argument with the employee, Jamison went berserk and began throwing stuff inside the juice shop, knocking things on the floor, then going as far as to threaten to come back and stab the 39-year-old victim, before ultimately leaving with a free drink, prosecutors say.
Two hours later, Jamison returned to the Upper East Side juice shop, grabbed a large knife from behind the counter and plunged it into the employee repeatedly, prosecutors say, continuing to stab the man even after he fell to floor and was bleeding from wounds in his head, neck, back and hands, that police say would require staples and sutures to close.
The juice shop manager said that the victim was released from the hospital last Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors told the judge that Jamison left a broken acrylic fingernail behind at the crime scene, which was next to a pool of blood, while detectives later obtained surveillance video showing Jamison in her apartment building wearing the same clothes seen in the gruesome attack.
As the NYPD’s Warrant Squad moved in to make the arrest, Jamison attempt to give them the slip, according to criminal complaint.
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When cops showed up at Jamison’s East 56th Street apartment on Monday morning, the complaint states that the 23-year-old ignored their knock at the door. She then ran from police and was spotted going down the fire escape of her building carrying a green bag, according to investigators.
She then went back up the fire escape of another building. Prosecutors say Jamison even tried to get into a stranger’s apartment to get way from police, telling the resident not to call the cops.
Chala Jamison was collared on the fire escape, according to court documents — meanwhile, inside the green bag, police found a wig, purse and blood-stained sneakers the suspect is seen wearing in surveillance video from the attack, as well as acrylic nails like the one left behind at the crime scene.
Assistant District Attorney Zachary Kaplan requested that Chala Jamison be remanded due to the seriousness of the charges and the suspect’s attempt to flee police.
The judge agreed. Jamison is being held without bond and is due back in court on Friday.
