The suspect behind Saturday’s Museum of Modern Art stabbing who left two workers seriously injured has been caught in Philadelphia, the NYPD announced Tuesday morning.
Gary Cabana, 60, of 255 West 43rd Street was taken into custody by members of the Philadelphia Police Department just after 1:30 a.m. on March 15. According to NBC New York, Cabana was caught while sleeping on a bench at the Philadelphia Bus Terminal.
During an afternoon press conference at police headquarters that same day, Chief of Detectives James Essig reveled that Cabana was apprehended after allegedly starting a fire inside a Best Western Hotel. Philadelphia Police responded to the arson and after canvassing the area discovered him dozing nearby. Essig also thanked the U.S Secret Service who added in the investigation after police said Cabana made threats to former President Donald Trump via email.
He’s now awaiting extradition back to Manhattan, where he’s expected to be booked on assault charges, and although he does have any prior arrests he will also be charged in another incident in which he pushed an employee of the museum.
Law enforcement sources said Cabana knifed the employees at the Museum of Modern Art, located at 11 West 53rd St. in Midtown, on the afternoon of March 12 after being denied entry to the cultural institution because his membership had been revoked.
According to police, Cabana came to MoMA at about 4:30 p.m. that afternoon hoping to see a film being screened there. The day before, MoMA sent a letter notifying him that his membership had been cancelled due to previous instances of disorderly conduct on campus, according to NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism and Intelligence John Miller.
Upon being told that he was no longer a member, cops said, Cabana went into a rage, then hopped over the reception desk and went on the attack, stabbing the two workers — a 24-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman — about their bodies before fleeing the scene.
Officers from the Midtown North Precinct responded to the incident. Both injured workers were treated for their injuries at Bellevue Hospital.
A day after the attack, Cabana told the New York Post that he “lost it” during Saturday’s attack, but claimed that he had been provoked by staff members. He also denied the actions that led to his membership revocation.
