Man who sucker-punched Rick Moranis suspect in multiple unprovoked attacks

‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ star was hit in the head as he walked through Manhattan last month

By AP 16 November 2020, 9:09 pm Edit
Actor Rick Moranis is shown at an unknown location, in May 1994. A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that Moranis was sucker punched by an unknown assailant while walking on October 1, 2020, on a sidewalk near New York’s Central Park. Moranis took himself to the hospital and later went to a police station to report the incident, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident and did so on condition of anonymity. (AP Photo/File)
Actor Rick Moranis is shown at an unknown location, in May 1994. A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that Moranis was sucker punched by an unknown assailant while walking on October 1, 2020, on a sidewalk near New York’s Central Park. Moranis took himself to the hospital and later went to a police station to report the incident, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident and did so on condition of anonymity. (AP Photo/File)

NEW YORK — Prosecutors say the man accused of punching actor Rick Moranis is a suspect in multiple other unprovoked attacks on people in New York City.

At a Manhattan Criminal Court hearing on Sunday, prosecutors said Marquis Ventura, 35, is charged in five assaults on strangers that took place in the last six months, the New York Post reported.

Ventura allegedly attacked the owner of a liquor store in Soho hours after he punched Moranis in the face on October 1, in what police called a “random, unprovoked assault.”

Moranis is well known for his roles in movies like “Ghostbusters,” “Spaceballs,” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids.”

https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/1312118280371363847

Judge Nicholas Moyne ordered a psychiatric examination for Ventura.

An attorney for Ventura, Autumn Levine, said he has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a serious mental illness, and has previously been in in-patient mental health treatment. She said he was not on his medication, the newspaper reported.

Ventura was arrested Saturday, but the charges naming him as a suspect in other assaults were not known until yesterday’s hearing.

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