NEW YORK — A 61-year-old man who died after he was shoved to the ground outside his Brooklyn home was sucker-punched by two men who then robbed him as he lay dying, video released by police Thursday shows.
Victor Vega was found unconscious suffering from a massive head injury in front of his Bedford-Stuyvesant home on Lexington Ave. near Nostrand Avenue about 8:25 p.m. May 25, police said. He died at Kings County Hospital Monday.
Surveillance video released by the New York Police Department shows he fell backward after a man he was walking down the sidewalk with punched him without warning in the head.
After Vega fell to the ground next to a row of parked cars, striking his head, his attacker rifled through the unconscious victim’s pockets, stealing a few items before walking off with an accomplice.
Vega, who was sporting a baseball cap and carrying a small black shopping bag, appeared to be speaking with the assailants in the moments before the attack, the video shows. He appears to reach out and touch one of the the man’s arm in a friendly gesture just before the fatal sucker-punch was delivered.
The attacker and his accomplice have not been caught. Both wore black hoodies and face masks.
“Everything is being investigated,” a police source said. “We don’t know if this was meant to be a robbery or when the victim fell unconscious, they decided to look through his pockets.”
The city Medical Examiner deemed Vega’s death a homicide.
Police are asking the public’s help identifying and tracking down the two assailants.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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