A man stabbed a group of men trying to break into his neighbor’s Upper West Side apartment

UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — A 46-year-old man was stabbed to death Friday while protecting his friend’s teenage daughter when a group of men broke into his Upper West Side apartment building, police said.

Police said the victim, identified as Alfred Soto, was stabbed in the stomach and chest around 10:20 a.m. in a building on West 96th Street, where he also lived.

They say the stabbing occurred on the sixth floor of an apartment.

John Somwar said his cousin Soto responded to a friend’s call for help and paid for it with his life.

Police say four to five men broke into a 6th-floor apartment this morning and terrorized a 19-year-old girl who was caring for her brother with special needs.

Police said the men forced their way into the apartment to take several dogs.

The teenager called his mother, who then called Soto, his longtime neighbor who lived several floors up.

Soto, who lived on the 11th floor, ran to the 6th floor to confront the attackers but was stabbed twice in the confrontation.

“He went to spread a problem and the problem got bigger and he got stabbed and killed trying to be a good man for himself,” said Frank Ramirez, the victim’s friend.

Police said the men fled the building in a U-Haul with no license plates.

The police arrived at the scene and found the injured person covered in heavy blood.

“He dropped his phone and I’ll be right back. It was a friend in need and a friend who didn’t feel safe when she called him with her daughter and he knew she was the kind of person who would step up and take action. Face a challenge head on,” Somwar said.

Emergency services took him to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Morningside.

“All you needed was a phone call and he dropped everything, went downstairs, didn’t care, didn’t care and tried to protect a young lady who he felt was being threatened. His mother called him and he responded. He was a good guy. To me, he was a hero,” Somwar said.

No one is in custody so far.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

———-

* Deliver Eyewitness Reports

* More Manhattan news

* Send us a news tip

* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts

* Follow us on YouTube

Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News

Have a breaking news tip or story idea we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If you are adding videos or photos, Terms of use apply.