Man who assaulted boy on Manhattan street ordered held

A man accused of a senseless chokehold attack on a little boy walking with his brother on a Manhattan street was ordered held on bail Tuesday, as the child’s shocked family focused on his recovery at home.

At a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court, John Sheppard, 54, was charged with strangulation, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful imprisonment, and held on $5,000 cash bail.

The child and his brother were walking on E. 86th St. near Second Ave. on their way to a subway stop after leaving a nearby school when the unhinged assault took place Monday.

Prosecutors said Sheppard came up to the little boy, put his arm around the frightened child’s throat in a chokehold and then fell to the ground on top of the boy — all the while yelling “I will kill you!”

The little boy was left with a bloody lip and scratches around his neck, prosecutors said.

He was taken to New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center for treatment.

On Tuesday, the child was home with his family, lawyer Geramana Giordano said.

“The son is in pain,” she said, adding the family did not want to make any statement about the assault, calling it a “very sad episode.”