Security camera video shows a suspect pulling a baseball bat out of his pants and striking an unsuspecting victim in the back of the head on a Manhattan sidewalk.
The man, 47 years old, falls to the concrete and the unknown assailant is seen yelling something angry at him as the victim lies on the flat in front of 800 Amsterdam Ave. in Hamilton Heights last Tuesday at 8: 000 in the morning, according to video released by police on Saturday.
At this time it is unclear if the men had any interaction prior to the attack, but the suspect appears to be aiming at the victim and looks into his face before pulling out the bat.
New York authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying the offender for their subsequent capture.
In the images released, the attacker is shown with the bat inside his pants with the handle covered by a hoodie. He is walking behind his target and almost passes him, looking into his face.
At that moment, a third person walks in the opposite direction between the two and the offender turns towards the street and stops, appearing to wait for the pedestrian to pass before pulling out the bat.
He forcefully hits the victim, who immediately falls to the ground and rolls on the floor wailing in pain.
The suspect turns and walks away, angry, and appears to be yelling at the victim. The bat-wielding criminal turns and yells at the man on the floor, who appears to stomp on him at one point before walking away again.
The man was last seen wearing a hoodie with “Nike” on the front, gray sweatpants and black sneakers.
The victim suffered a laceration and bruising and was taken by ambulance to NYC Health and Hospitals/Harlem in stable condition, authorities said.
The New York Police Department asks anyone with information about it to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-47-TIPS (8477) or on the web https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/.
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