CUT TO A CHASE

Midtown knifeman is caught by cops – & camera

A career criminal with more than 50 arrests, most for selling and possessing drugs, added a few more charges to his record Thursday after he was caught going after a man with a knife in Midtown.

The episode — from the suspect walking with a knife in his hand to his dramatic arrest by plainclothes cops — was captured in a series of photos snapped by a lensman who spotted the drama as it unfolded at around 11:45 a.m.

The photos show Anthony Finner, 53, walking with his face covered by a red bandanna, his black sweat shirt’s hood secured — and the large blade concealed in his palm (circled) — after an apparent drug deal gone bad.

He was seen exchanging money with a man near 684 Eighth Ave., between 42nd and 43rd streets, for small packets of a controlled substance, police said. Finner chased down the man moments later, with knife in hand.

Street photographer Rich Docherty, who took the pictures, said he just happened to be nearby.

“I was roaming around Eighth Avenue, 42nd Street, and I noticed this guy next to Duane Reade,” he told The Post. “He really looked suspicious.”

“A knife materialized in his right hand,” Docherty recalled, adding that Finner took off running.

Finner was apprehended by plainclothes officers, who pinned him down with at least one cop drawing a gun.

“They came out of nowhere,” Docherty said.

Sources said Finner has a lengthy criminal record, including arrests for petit larceny and possession of burglary tools.

“It looks like all nonviolent crimes,” a source said.

Finner was charged with criminal possession of narcotics and criminal possession of a weapon. It was unclear what type of drugs he was alleged to have had on him.