Suspect nabbed in deadly Upper Manhattan slashing

An attacker accused of slitting a man’s throat in Inwood has been arrested, cops said Wednesday.

Ismail Hosameldin, 34, was booked on charges including murder and criminal possession of a weapon hours after the Tuesday night bloodbath, according to police.

The suspect had been subletting a room inside 55-year-old Maximito Polanco’s fifth-floor apartment on Arden St. between Nagle and Sherman Aves., where he allegedly slashed Polanco’s throat following a dispute around 4:14 pm, according to law enforcement sources.

Paramedics rushed to stabilize the victim at his home, but he was pronounced dead on the scene, cops said.

Detectives hauled in two suspects for questioning but cut the second man loose after their focus shifted to Hosameldin, according to police.

A neighbor told the Daily News she wasn’t familiar with Polanco or the suspect, but said that a strange man had been menacing building residents in the days leading up to the murder — banging on doors and demanding access to their apartments in an effort to gain entry to the unit where Polanco was slashed.

“That guy was asking me to open my door so he can go through my window and go to that window because he had forgot his keys,” said Luisa Paez, 33, who lived next door to Polanco. “I was not opening my door because he was very aggressive that day.”

She described that man as disturbed, saying police at one point escorted him to a hospital to be medicated.

“Police officers took him to the hospital, or something like that for his pills,” she said.

Residents at the Arden St. apartment building are locking their doors tight and keeping their kids close following Tuesday’s butchery, according to another neighbor.

“My kids are terrified,” said the man, who didn’t give his name. “They’re scared to go outside because of what happened.”