Deranged Penn Station slasher’s victims desperately tried to fight back, one with a backpack: DA

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Penn Station commuters carved up by a blade-wielding madman in a bloody rampage earlier this month desperately tried fighting back, including one victim who used his backpack to shield the attack, prosecutors revealed Monday.

Two men — ages 60 and 42 — both failed to stave off Hector Deleon, 51, during his alleged June 7 stabbing spree that injured seven unsuspecting victims inside the busy Midtown transit hub, according to new court documents.

Deleon, who donned beige prison garb at his court appearance, pleaded not guilty to an 18-count indictment charging him with seven counts of attempted murder and other charges.

The suspect, whom victims have described as having “rage in his eyes,” allegedly targeted his victims after entering the NJ Transit area of the station.

There, Deleon allegedly slashed a man in the throat before turning around and immediately stabbing a woman in the chest, according to the indictment.

Deleon then ran into Henry Obadiah, 60, who desperately tried to fend off the attack.

But Deleon was still able to drive his blade into Obadiah’s left temple, according to prosecutors.

The accused attempted murderer stabbed two more victims before running into a 42-year-old victim, who attempted to protect himself with his backpack before DeLeon plunged his double-sided knife into the poor man’s throat, prosecutors allege.

Obadiah had told The Post that he was traveling back home to New Jersey when Deleon came after him and sucker-punched him in the face.

“The crazy guy locked his eyes on me and just roundhoused me! Clocked me right in the face and I was like, ‘What the f–k?’” Obadiah said, “And I heard the guy on the escalator say, ‘He’s got a knife! He’s got a knife!’”

Obadiah said he was in such shock that he didn’t realize he had been slashed in the face.

Deleon, who is no stranger to the criminal justice system, was arrested at least seven times before the June 7 attack — including for a 2022 stabbing in Newark for which he was only punished with two years of probation.

Sources said he was on probation during the Penn Station stabbing spree.

His wife, Waleska Morales, 48, told The Post that they had been separated for three years due to domestic violence — where she claimed that DeLeon had physically and verbally abused her.

“He hit me with the closed fist,” Morales said, adding that DeLeon had tried visiting her two weeks before the attack.

At his Monday arraignment, Deleon held without bail by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber. He is awaiting a mental health evaluation.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg vowed in a statement to prevent random attacks like this one from happening in the Big Apple altogether.

“We will not accept this type of random violence anywhere in Manhattan,” Bragg said.

If convicted, Deleon faces up to 25 years in prison for attempted murder in the second degree.