His wife, kids, co-workers and just about everyone who reads about Juan Pablo Dapena thinks he’s a hero.
He’s the only person who doesn’t.
“I think a lot of people would have reacted the same way,” said Dapena.
Dapena, of Fresh Meadows, sprang to action when he saw a man hacking a woman with a meat cleaver on Wednesday, May 23.
Cops later identifi ed Kang Wang, 53, as the suspect who nearly killed his wife, Hui Zhen Liu, 52, with a meat cleaver near the pair’s Flushing home.
Dapena was driving to the No. 7 train station around 5:40 a.m. on his way to work as a loss prevention officer at the Marriot Marquis, when he spotted something unusual.
“I noticed a younger guy was trying to control an older man and I saw the older gentleman pick up a bundle of wood and throw it at a body on the floor,” he said.
A former U. S. Marine, Dapena, 44, reacted quickly. He pulled over in a nearby driveway, called 9-1-1, and yelled, “drop it, drop it, drop it.”
When yelling didn’t work, Dapena reached in his silver Pontiac for something to help him stop Wang, but all he found was an ice scraper.
“That’s all I had,” Dapena said.
The vet didn’t know what to make of Wang.
“He concentrated his gaze on me. I didn’t know what he was thinking,” Dapena said.
Wielding the scraper, the good Samaritan stopped and subdued the husband until cops arrived. Wang was arrested at the scene and charged with assault, possession of a weapon and attempted homicide, according to police.
Officials said his wife was taken to New York Hospital Queens in critical condition, but her status has not been updated.
Wang’s son, who was trying to stop him before Dapena arrived, thanked the hotel worker for his help.
But Dapena is just happy he was able to save a life.
“I am a Buddhist. Life to me is important,” he said. “My conscience would have bothered me if I just kept on going and I heard later that a lady got killed.”
