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Violinist roamed hotel halls naked, attacked woman: police

A renowned German violinist went on a naked rampage at a Manhattan hotel, forcing his way into a female tourist’s room and choking her, law enforcement sources told The Post.

Staffers at the boutique Hudson Hotel at Columbus Circle were first alerted to the bizarre antics of Stefan Arzberger after guests reported seeing a man roaming around naked early Friday, the sources said.

A 64-year-old female hotel guest from North Carolina “heard a knock and opened her door slightly’’ around 8 a.m., a law enforcement source said.

She was confronted by a wild-eyed Arzberger — who recently performed at the Library of Congress — “completely naked,’’ the source said.

The Hudson Hotel on West 58th Street, where Arzberger allegedly staged his naked rampage.Robert Kalfus

“He stuck his arm out, and she tried to slam the door shut, but he stuck his arm in between the door and the door jamb,” the source said of the 42-year-old lead violinist for the internationally acclaimed Leipzig String Quartet, which has played at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

“He barged inside and grabbed her around the neck with both hands and started strangling her.”

The violinist allegedly choked the woman so hard that the blood vessels in her eyes were ruptured, according to a court complaint.

Hotel staff heard the victim crying for help and pulled the crazed man off her, cops said.

Arzberger managed to flee back to his room, but police arrested him shortly after, the sources said.

The victim and Arzberger did not know each other, the sources said.

A source close to the musician claimed that the episode happened after someone slipped a drug into Arzberger’s drink at the hotel bar. He has no memory of what happened, the source said.

But police said that when they took Arzberger into custody, he showed no outward signs of mental distress.

His lawyer insisted that he has never been in trouble with the law.

“He’s an upstanding member of society without a criminal record who has devoted his life to the arts,’’ lawyer Nicholas Kaizer told The Post. “He has no record anywhere, and we hope at the end of the journey, he has no record here.”

Arzberger was charged with strangulation and burglary.

He was released Saturday after bondsman Ira Judelson posted the $100,000 bail, according to court papers. Judelson declined to comment.

Arzberger’s group has toured throughout Europe, Australia and Asia in addition to the US.

Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast and Rebecca Harshbarger