Homeless Man Who Allegedly Punched Steve Buscemi Learns His Fate

The homeless man who has been accused of allegedly punching the Hollywood star Steve Buscemi of Boardwalk Empire fame has finally been apprehended. He’s been sent to jail on $50,000 cash bail.

Buscemi’s Perpetrator Arrested

The New York Post reported that Clifton Williams, 50, is accused of punching Buscemi, 66, on May 8 in a random attack. He reportedly approached Buscemi on Third Avenue in Kips Bay at 11:39 a.m. and punched him in the face.

The official criminal complaint against Williams states that Buscemi fell to the ground during the attack and suffered “bleeding to his eye, swelling, bruising, and substantial pain.”

Since Buscemi is over 65 years of age, Williams has been hit with a felony count of second-degree assault. He’s additionally been charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly attacking a 22-year-old Asian just ten minutes before the Buscemi assault.

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Barry said during Williams’ arraignment on Saturday that he has “significant criminal history in both Kentucky and Florida spanning  many years including assaults and other crime of violence.” She added that he “has been in New York for less than a month.”

That’s why Barry decided to request $100,000 bail. Judge Marisol Martinez Alonso then sent Williams to Rikers Island jail on $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond. Find out more about this in the video below.

Related: Actor Steve Buscemi, Former NYFD Firefighter Who Helped On 9/11, Attacked in NYC

Williams Confesses

Police had been searching for Williams for weeks after the attack. When they finally tracked him down, he admitted to both assaults immediately after he was shown a surveillance photo of himself near the scenes.

On top of everything else, 54 year-old man plumber Mark Belli is claiming that Williams tried to punch him and threatened to kill him at around 12:30 last Friday, the day of his arrest.

“He threw a punch at me,” Belli claimed. “I ducked it. He went to kick me and his shoe came off. I took a picture of him because he was chasing me. He said, ‘If I catch you, I’m going to kill you.’”

It should be noted that Williams stands at 6-feet, 2-inches and weighs 197-pounds. Buscemi, meanwhile, is only 5-feet, 9-inches tall.

Find out more about this in the video below.

Buscemi Is A Hero

The attack on Buscemi struck a nerve around the country because of how beloved he is. More than just a Hollywood star, Buscemi is also a former NYFD firefighter, with that being his career from 1980 through 1984.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Buscemi quietly returned to the NYFD as a volunteer firefighter to help with recovery efforts. Twenty years later, Buscemi revealed that he still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from this experience.

“I haven’t experienced any health issues, and I get myself checked out, but definitely…. Post traumatic stress? Absolutely,” Buscemi admitted on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast.

“I was only there for like five days, but when I stopped going and tried to just live my life again, it was really, really hard,” he continued. “I was depressed, I was anxious, I couldn’t make a simple decision. All those things. It’s still with me. There are times when I talk about 9/11 and I’m right back there. I start to get choked up and I realize, ‘Ah, this is still a big part of me.’”

RELATED: Steve Buscemi Opens Up About His 9/11 PTSD After Volunteering As Firefighter In Aftermath Of Attacks

In a time when so many Hollywood stars are only focused on themselves, Buscemi’s humility has long been seen as refreshing. He didn’t deserve to be brutally assaulted, and it’s good that his perpetrator is being brought to justice.