Video of horrifying attack on #LowerEastSide. If you recognize these guys, call @NYPD7Pct. #abc7nypic.twitter.com/5tUrfrpiTr
— Josh Einiger (@JoshEiniger7) March 11, 2017
Police have released video showing a brutal attack on Orchard Street early Friday morning.
It happened at about at about 2:45 a.m. Cops say two suspects chased a 24-year-old man up the block, in the direction of Stanton Street. They caught up with him in front of 156 Orchard St. and started punching and kicking the victim in the head and body.
A Channel 2 reporter spoke with a witness, who did not want to be identified:
“It was really gruesome and hard to watch,” the man said. The witness and others screamed at the assailants when the violence began. “And they wouldn’t stop — just going on and on and on, like, and that’s when I was yelling: ‘Stop! Stop! He’s down! Just leave it! Go!’” the witness said. No one dared to intervene physically. “I mean, they were big guys. Like, I myself couldn’t stop them,” the witness said. “I don’t think there was any stopping them.”
The suspects fled in a black livery car. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in serious condition.The Daily News reported that the man who was beaten lives in the neighborhood. More from the News:
The brutal beatdown happened so fast that security guards at nearby bars weren’t able to break it up in time, said a man who witnessed the aftermath. “Nobody could help this person. It was over that quickly,” said Chad David, 51, who works the front desk at a hotel across the street. “It’s bad they beat him that much. They didn’t have to,” said David.”With two guys. Come on, this is crazy.”
If you have any information about this crime, call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.
UPDATE 3/12 The victim has been identified as 24-year-old William Franco. Police sources told the Daily News that he does not know why he was attacked. Police think the beating might have been a random act of violence.
Franco’s mother, Virginia Cruz, told the News, “He got cut … his face got cut… He’s in pain. He hasn’t been talking very much.”
Franco is a cook at Schiller’s Liquor Bar. “Will’s a great guy,” a co-worker said. “He’s a hard worker and a good kid. He’s got nothing but good intentions.”
Channel 2 also spoke with Franco’s mom and returned to the crime scene in search of witnesses:
The street was bustling early Friday morning. Despite several people walking by, nothing and no one could stop the onslaught. CBS2 spoke with an eyewitness who was too traumatized and terrified to be identified. “And they wouldn’t stop — just going on and on and on, like, and that’s when I was yelling: ‘Stop! Stop! He’s down! Just leave it! Go!’” the witness said. “It was really gruesome and hard to watch.” He said some bystanders screamed out, but no one dared to intervene. “I mean they were big guys, I myself couldn’t stop them,” the witness said. “I don’t think there was any stopping them.”
UPDATE 2/13 DNAinfo reports that the incident actually started at Pianos, the Ludlow Street music club. The victim was reportedly thrown out of the bar after an altercation with his attackers. According to the story, William Franco waited outside for the men. When they left the bar, the fight resumed and they chased him up the block, where the beating took place.
