Cops arrest homeless suspect accused of slugging Steve Buscemi in random NYC attack

The unhinged homeless man who allegedly slugged beloved actor Steve Buscemi in Manhattan was foiled Friday when he tried to report stolen property to cops — and an eagle-eyed officer recognized him, according to police.

Clifton Williams, 50, is accused of walking up to Buscemi, 66, on a street in Kips Bay at around 5:45 p.m., May 8 and randomly punching the actor, before casually walking away.

The NYPD identified the bumbling brute from surveillance footage near where the attack took place and had been scouring the city for him, including at a Brooklyn homeless shelter believed to be his last known address, law enforcement sources said.

Williams was hit with a felony count of second-degree assault because Buscemi is over 65.  He also allegedly attacked a 22-year-old Asian man 10 minutes before the Buscemi attack and was charged with misdemeanor assault for that. He said nothing as he was walked out of the 13th precinct to his arraignment.

Cops got a call Friday from the superintendent of a homeless services building in Chelsea, who said Williams had been harassing him over belongings he believed to have been swiped.

When a police officer arrived, the cop asked Williams to fill out a report for his lost property, according to police.

But as he filled out the paperwork, the officer recognized his name and linked it to a photo of the person wanted in Buscemi’s attack.

Gesturing towards an NYPD wanted poster, the cop asked Williams, “Is this you?” — to which he allegedly confessed that it was.

Williams is considered an “a–hole” at the homeless center where he was busted, unhoused folks told The Post.

“His attitude towards people in general is unsavory,” said one homeless man named Aziz.

“He’s called me a cracker and all types of stuff.”

Another homeless guy at the center said there are plenty of actors who deserve a knuckle sandwich — but not Buscemi.

“[Williams] is an asshole. Why would you want to hit someone like Steve Buscemi?” he said.

“I heard he’s a nice guy. He’s not an a–hole like other actors are.”

“I liked him in ‘Grown Ups,” he added.

The “Fargo” and “Boardwalk Empire” star is a former FDNY firefighter who famously rushed to the scene of the World Trade Center on 9/11 to help out his former company, Engine 55, in its time of need.

On May 11, he was spotted sporting a shiner on his left eye and a swollen cheek as he was shooting a commercial in Soho.

“The guy just came up to him and punched him on the side of the head for no reason,” a worker in the neighborhood who saw security video of the assault previously told The Post.

“[Buscemi] didn’t see anything. He went straight to the ground and the guy kept going.

“[Buscemi] got right back up with an expression like, ‘What just happened?’ and looked toward the guy who’d hit him,” the worker said.

“The guy shouted something back at him and kept going.”

Buscemi is a former FDNY firefighter who famously rushed to the scene of the World Trade Center on 9/11 to help out his former company, Engine 55, in its time of need.

He launched his movie career nearly 40 years ago and has a catalog of hit films that include “Farco,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Reservoir Dogs.”

He also had a recurring role in the HBO hit “The Sopranos” and more recently earned acclaim for his portrayal of corrupt Atlantic City pol Enoch “Nucky” Thompson in the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire.”

The attack makes Buscemi the second cast member from the hit show to be the victim of random New York City street violence this year.

On March 31, actor Michael Stuhbarg, who played gangster Arnold Rothstein on the show, was out for a run on the Upper East Side when he was struck in the back of the neck with a rock.

Stuhbarg chased the fiend, who was busted after running into cops guarding the Russian Consulate.

The NYPD arrested a deranged vagrant, Xavier Israel, 27, in the assault.

-Additional reporting by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon