Brick-wielding maniac who attacked decorated Delta Force vet appears in court covered in bruises

The unhinged vagrant who attacked a decorated Delta Force vet with a brick in a shocking broad-daylight attack in the East Village is now locked up on $25,000 bail.James Lawson, 44, who already had five busts and an open case on his rap sheet, appeared with his face covered in bruises as he was arraigned Monday night and shipped off to Rikers Island in the Sunday morning attack on vet Mark Antal.Antal, 54, was waiting for his daughters outside a pilates studio near his Manhattan home when Lawson allegedly ordered him to get off “his street” shortly before 11:30 am, according to police and sources.Lawson allegedly lunged at Antal and the two got into a scuffle, with the vagrant then picking up a brick and slamming the victim in the head — with Antal then wrestling his attacker to the ground despite being dazed and injured.Antal suffered serious head injuries and is still recovering.“We are grateful to the swift action of the NYPD and the prosecutor’s office,” his wife, Christine, told The Post on Tuesday.

“Mark and the children are going as well as to be expected and we are focusing on getting them support.”Mark Antal’s military career included 12 years with the US Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta before he retired from active duty in 2015.The couple went on to found Task Force Antal, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to victims in some of the world’s most troubled war zones.Lawson’s previous arrest came after he was accused of smashing a glass at a bar on Avenue B and reaching into a car to snatch a victim’s phone in separate incidents on April 9.He was arraigned two days later and released without bail.The charges lodged against him in those cases — petty larceny and possession of stolen property — are not eligible for bail under the state’s lenient 2019 criminal justice reforms....