Breweryman charged in stabbing of man in Center City bathroom

Police have charged a Brewerytown man with attempted murder, robbery, assault and related charges after he stabbed a man in a Center City underground concourse yesterday and then punched a guard who tried to collar him.

William Berrioz, 33, of Dover Street near Thompson, remains in custody after the lunchtime assault under the Mellon Independence Center at 7th and Market streets. Berrioz allegedly approached Ben Davis, 65, of Camden, in the men's room and demanded money, police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said this morning. Berrioz then allegedly stabbed Davis six times in the chest, neck and back. Davis stumbled into the concourse, where an alert Allied Barton guard sprinted after his attacker. But the stabber punched the guard, 26, who did not require medical treatment. The guard chased the thug to the street, where he flagged down police, who nabbed him. As for the robbery, Berrioz didn't get anything, police said.

Davis remains in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Davis had taken his wife to a nearby hair salon and, as he typically does every other week, wandered into the concourse to get some coffee and listen to a pianist in the concourse, witnesses told a Daily News reporter yesterday.

Berrioz is a repeat offender with past arrests for theft, assault, reckless endangerment and other charges, according to court records.