[NYPOST] A 44-year-old Manhattan man was charged Sunday with biting and choking a good Samaritan who tried to stop him from harassing a straphanger on the subway.Billy Torres was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing for the disturbing attack on an uptown D train at Columbus Circle around 5 p.m. Saturday.
The weapon charge was for a box cutter he allegedly used to threaten someone during the underground chaos, according to police.
The 20-year-old good Samaritan who intervened was treated at a hospital for his injuries, police said.
Manhattan Criminal Court Justice James Burke released Torres on his own recognizance on Sunday — despite prosecutors’ request he be released under supervision for the attack, which came just a day after four people were slashed and one was punched at three Manhattan stations in a 12-minute span.
Approached by The Post after his release, Torres claimed he was "defending myself."
"They tried to rob me. They were trying to take my jewelry, my headphones," he said. "I was minding my own business."
Torres’ rap sheet includes a 2010 bust for allegedly assaulting a neighbor who ended up getting an order of protection against him, police sources told The Post.
The then-45-year-old neighbor had told police that he complained about a condom being left on the floor — prompting Torres to allegedly attack him, leaving a welt on his head, the sources said.
Torres’ current address is listed at Kenmore Hall on East 23rd Street in Gramercy, a former hotel that now provides permanent housing for low-income people out of city shelters or with special needs.