text: Homeless man charged in assault on Washington Square Diner cook | World News Paper Online
  Home U.S Homeless man charged in assault on Washington Square Diner cook
  A deranged homeless man was ordered held on bail Sunday for allegedly shoving a cook into a West Village diner window the day before — while on probation for another attack in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.
  Gregory Conwell, 27, was charged with second-degree assault and other charges in the Saturday morning attack on a 77-year-old cook at the Washington Square Diner.
  Manhattan prosecutors said the incident came while Conwell was serving five years probation on an attempted assault conviction from 2019 in Brooklyn.
  Details of that incident were not immediately available on Sunday.
  Prosecutors said Conwell also had "an extensive criminal record in Georgia" but did not elaborate in court.
  Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Stephen Antignani ordered Conwell, who lives in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, held on $50,000 bail or $100,000 bond on Sunday.
  Police said Conwell went into the diner around 9:45 a.m. to use the bathroom — but then began to harass customers at the eatery and was asked to leave.
  That's when cops said he flew into a rage and shoved the elderly cook, who was identified only as Constantino, into the window.
  Cops said Gregory Conwell flew into a rage and shoved the elderly cook, who was identified only as Constantino, into the window.
  Other workers at the diner chased Conwell into Washington Square Park and held him there until police arrived and slapped the handcuffs on him.
  "That window has been broken at least five times in the past five years," diner manager George Takos told The Post after the incident. "Same situation. They get upset, and they see the best way to hurt you is to break your windows."
  Neighborhood residents have been grappling in recent months with unruly — and sometimes violent — after-hours partying in nearby Washington Square Park, including over the weekend, despite a midnight closing time.
  "That window has been broken at least five times in the past five years," diner manager George Takos told The Post after the incident.