Ex-Arsenal star Nicklas Bendtner caught up in New York stabbing that left one man in hospital
Former Arsenal player Nicklas Bendtner was involved in a frightening stabbing incident during a visit to New York with friends last week.
The attack left a friend of the former Denmark international injured, with CCTV footage capturing the moments leading up to the event. The 36-year-old Bendtner was walking in Manhattan's Upper West Side last Thursday alongside three other people when a man, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, suddenly approached from behind with a knife before fleeing in the same direction moments later.
Local reports state that 25-year-old Joshua Zinberg was arrested the following day and now faces charges of attempted murder and assault. According to sources, Zinberg was turned in to authorities by his own mother.
Bendtner, who scored 45 goals in 171 appearances during his nine-year tenure at Arsenal, told Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet that he appeared in the CCTV video. He said: “Yes, I can confirm that it is me in the video. Could it have been me who was attacked? I have no comment about that.
“But I can confirm that it's me on the video - it's hard to run away from.”
The victim, a 55-year-old former professional footballer, sustained facial injuries and was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He has not been named at this time.
Speaking about the attack, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said: “We walk past people every day that we know they do not have the ability to make the right decision to take care of themselves.
“This is a problem that was created when we closed the psychiatric facilities many years ago. We closed them without giving people the support that they deserve.”