A Pennsylvania influencer who runs an online operation targeting suspected child predators has been charged over a violent confrontation that ended in his own stabbing at a New York Tim Hortons, after police found no phone contact ever took place between him and the man he accused.
A Pennsylvania influencer has been charged following a violent confrontation in which he was stabbed during a sting operation targeting a suspected child predator in upstate New York. Nicholas Attalla, 34, who operates online under the name “Niky Sal,” was arrested on charges of third-degree assault, criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child on 4 September, WGRZ reported, roughly nine months after the incident took place at a Tim Hortons in Jamestown, around 70 miles south of Buffalo, in December 2025.
How the confrontation unfolded
Attalla runs undercover social media accounts, posing as a minor in an effort to identify adults who target children online. According to the latest police account, the person communicating with Attalla had identified themselves as a 16-year-old male on a dating site, while Attalla portrayed himself as a 14-year-old girl during the exchange. Attalla allegedly continued the conversation by phone and text before arranging to meet at the Tim Hortons.
At the restaurant, Attalla confronted James Morris, 43, and Eric Spencer, 42, accusing Morris of trying to meet the fictional 14-year-old girl. A spokesperson for the Jamestown Police Department told WGRZ that Attalla “threatened him (Morris) based solely off the phone conversation and his voice.” A fight subsequently broke out between the men, during which Morris allegedly stabbed Attalla.
No phone contact ever took place, police say
In what may be the most significant development in the case, investigators say a cellphone search warrant obtained during their months-long investigation showed no phone contact whatsoever between Attalla and either Morris or Spencer before the confrontation. According to police, this means Attalla’s accusation against Morris was based entirely on his conversation with the person posing as a 16-year-old, and on Morris’s voice, rather than on any direct communication between Attalla and Morris himself.
It is worth stressing that police have not established that Morris actually intended to meet a child; the confirmed evidence is that Attalla accused Morris of attempting to do so, based on an unverified match between the voice on the phone and Morris.
A child caught in the crossfire
Police say the confrontation put more than just the three men at risk. The fight reportedly spilled into an area of the restaurant where a family with a one-year-old child was sitting, a detail that appears central to why Attalla, Morris and Spencer have all faced charges relating to endangering the welfare of a child and/or criminal nuisance, rather than the incident being treated simply as a fight between adults.
Charges against all three men
Morris, who police allege carried out the stabbing, faces considerably more serious charges than Attalla, including first-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence, and the newer charges of second-degree criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child.
Spencer, despite not being accused of stabbing Attalla, faces charges of second-degree criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child, indicating police considered his role in the confrontation sufficient to warrant separate charges.
Attalla’s own charges, third-degree assault, criminal nuisance and endangering the welfare of a child, are misdemeanour-level offences, considerably less serious than the first-degree assault charge facing Morris.
Timeline of the case
The stabbing took place on 13 December 2025. Morris and Spencer were arrested and charged the following month, in January 2026, while Attalla turned himself in on 4 September 2026, with police publicly announcing the additional charges against him on 9 September. In the intervening months, investigators interviewed witnesses, obtained surveillance footage, executed the cellphone search warrant, and worked to reconstruct the communications that led to the confrontation, suggesting Attalla’s charges followed a substantial evidence-gathering process rather than an immediate response to the fight itself.
Attalla pleaded not guilty after being arraigned following his surrender to police. The latest reporting does not establish that he has admitted to threatening Morris or knowingly putting the child in danger.
Attalla’s injuries and recovery
The December stabbing left Attalla with a large laceration to his arm. He was initially treated at UPMC Chautauqua before being transferred to UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pennsylvania. A fundraising campaign launched after the attack said he had temporarily lost feeling in his arm and required ongoing medical treatment, ultimately raising approximately $12,430 from 312 donations.
Part of a wider operation
The newer reporting identifies Ethan Haskins and Paul Oyer as individuals who work alongside Attalla in confronting people he and his associates accuse of attempting to meet minors online. Haskins later gave his own account of the Tim Hortons confrontation, saying the situation turned aggressive after Attalla initiated contact with Morris and Spencer.
The case has drawn attention to the wider risks associated with independent online predator-hunting operations, particularly when such efforts move from online conversations into real-world confrontations. In this instance, police allege the sequence began with an undercover persona, progressed to an in-person meeting, involved an accusation based partly on a phone conversation rather than direct contact, escalated into a physical fight, resulted in a stabbing, endangered an unrelated child, and ultimately led to criminal charges against both the man running the sting and the men he confronted.
