The knife-wielding madman who killed four people during a day-long rampage of stabbings, carjackings and hit-and-runs was nabbed in Times Square moments after he knifed a straphanger.

"They had to die," Maksim Gelman, 23, confessed after being tackled by two transit cops and an off-duty detective about 9 a.m. yesterday, sources said.

His arrest ended a one-man wave of breathless violence that spanned nearly 28 hours and two boroughs, fueled by rage at ex-flame and murder victim Yelena Bulchenko.

Gelman, described as a druggie graffiti vandal, lashed out at innocent bystanders as he cut a bloody swath through the city with six knives - sparking a massive manhunt.

"I don't recall ever seeing anything like this," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. "He certainly did a lot of mayhem and havoc in a short time."

The frenzy finally came to an end after Gelman wildly hacked at a man on an uptown No. 3 train leaving Penn Station for 42nd St., sending screaming passengers running to safety.

PHOTOS: 28 HOURS OF MADNESS

"I looked inside and saw a bunch of people running toward me," said John Bodensiek, 53, who was on the train. "There was panic. People were running and saying, 'Move! Move! Move!'"

Gelman pounded on the motorman's compartment, screaming "Police! Police!"

Instead of the motorman, transit cops Terrance Howell and Tamara Taylor stepped out, and Howell wrestled Gelman to the ground as he reached for a knife.




Joseph Lozito was slashed several times during the attack. (Santos/News)

Off-duty detective Marcelo Razzo ran from the third car and helped subdue the suspect, who had ditched four knives in a getaway car but still had two.

Transit cops were on high alert after reports that Gelman was spotted on a No. 1 train traveling south from 137th St., Kelly said.

"Do you believe what they're saying about me?" Gelman said as he knocked a newspaper bearing his photo out of a woman's hand, Kelly said.

Investigators believe Gelman stepped off at 34th St. and crossed on the tracks to an uptown No. 3. He walked to the front car, wailed about his dead ex-girlfriend and randomly slashed rider Joseph Lozito, 40.

"[Gelman] said, 'You're going to die,'" Lozito's sister, a city cop, said at Bellevue Hospital, where her brother was in stable condition.

"He tried to get to the conductor. He couldn't, so he just turned around looking for the next person - that was my brother."

As the train screeched to a halt before Times Square, a wave of cops got on and rushed toward the first car to haul out Gelman.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/02/12/2011-02-12_cops_continue_hunt_for_brooklyn_sicko_who_left_4_dead_2_injured_in_stabbing_carj.html#ixzz1E0vM3eUG