Man Is Arrested in Random Attack on Steve Buscemi

The police recognized the suspect, Clifton Williams, when they went to the scene of another dispute on Friday.

Nine days after the actor Steve Buscemi was punched in the face on a Manhattan street, a man has been charged in the case, the New York Police Department said.

Clifton Williams, a 50-year-old homeless man, was arrested on Friday and charged with second-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison. A police spokesman said the charge was elevated to a felony because of Mr. Buscemi’s age.

Mr. Buscemi, 66, was walking on Third Avenue near East 27th Street in the Kips Bay neighborhood when he was attacked by a stranger just before noon on May 8. He was treated at Bellevue Hospital for bleeding, bruising and swelling in his left eye.

Police officers identified Mr. Williams as a suspect on Tuesday after releasing surveillance photos of him wearing a blue T-shirt, black sweatpants and a baseball cap.

On Friday, police officers responded to a dispute between Mr. Williams and another man in the Chelsea neighborhood, about a dozen blocks from where Mr. Buscemi was attacked. There, they recognized Mr. Williams and arrested him.

Mr. Williams has also been accused of punching a 22-year-old man about 15 minutes before Mr. Buscemi was attacked, a police spokeswoman said. He has been charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in that case.