Actress Spencer Grammer was cut in front of the New York restaurant while trying to prevent the “altercation from escalating.”

Actress Spencer Grammer says she was trying to calm an agitated man when he hit her in the arm and stabbed her friend in the back on Friday in front of a New York City restaurant. Grammer, 36, told US Weekly that she and her friend were trying to “prevent the altercation from escalating” when they were attacked.

Grammer and her 32-year-old friend were eating at an outside table at The Black Ant in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood around 11:30 p.m. Friday, when the man wandered out and demanded to be served while the restaurant was closing.

“My friend and I did what anyone else would do in the same situation. Several others, predominantly women, were also trying to prevent the altercation from escalating,” Grammer told Us Weekly.

Grammer and her friend were injured when “they tried to break up a dispute between the unidentified man and other clients at the scene,” police said.

The man escaped after injuring Grammer in the right arm and her friend in the lower back with an unknown sharp object, police said. No arrests have been made.

Police posted a video on Twitter showing a man they are looking for in connection with this incident.

Grammer, who voices Summer on “Rick and Morty” and previously starred in the ABC Family series “Greek,” is the daughter of “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer and actress Doreen Alderman.

Grammer said that she and her friend hope to recover quickly. Neither man suffered serious internal injuries, he said.

In his statement to Us Weekly, Grammer thanked the first responders and the staff at Bellevue Hospital who attended them, and noted the “incredible battle” that these workers have fought against the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was very moving for us to have the opportunity to thank them in person,” said Grammer.

Bill Raymond has lived for 40 years in the building above the restaurant where the incident occurred.

“There are a lot of incidents going on around here,” he told CBS New York.

He said crime in the area has skyrocketed in recent months. He blames an increase in drug use.

“It was like Beverly Hills for a while. Now it’s getting tough again,” he said.