nothin Man Dragged From Car, Beaten | New Haven Independent

Man Dragged From Car, Beaten

An off-duty CT Transit bus driver was stopped at a light in the Edgewood neighborhood early Tuesday evening when three young men dragged him from his car and beat him bloody.

The attack occurred just after 6 p.m. near the intersection of Ella T. Grasso Boulevard and Elm Street and also damaged his car.

The off-duty B bus driver, a 53-year-old West Haven man who is of Caribbean descent, was driving south on the Boulevard toward Edgewood Avenue in a red BMW sports utility vehicle as he approached the intersection. Alone in the car, he was still wearing his light blue CT Transit polo shirt. He had the green light and was a few cars from crossing the intersection.

I happened to be seated in a car stopped at the red light on Elm at the same intersection, where I watched the gruesome scene unfold.

A woman, then three young men and several dogs, crossed in front of the BMW, though the driver had the light.

The driver pressed hard on his brakes and put his car in park. (He would later tell police that he hadn’t seen anyone at first, then hit the brakes to avoid hitting the female.)

At that point the group passing by started speaking with each other; one of the men told the woman to go across the street with the dogs.

When she did, he made his way around to the driver’s side of the SUV.

He said something to the driver of the SUV. Then he suddenly punched the man in the face.

As the man tried to recover from the unexpected punch, the attacker grabbed his car door and opened it. The driver tried to close his door, but by then another young man had joined the man who had punched him.

They dragged the man from his vehicle to the ground behind his parked car and proceeded to punch and kick him. A third young man proceeded to damage the passenger side rear-view mirror and hurl a Huffy Trail Runner bicycle at the passenger side door and the front passenger side of the car.

The two other men didn’t stop beating the man until a woman stepped in between them. They ran from the scene, headed in the direction of downtown, leaving the man in the street bloodied.

I called 911 and reported what was happening. An ambulance crew arrived, followed by police.

At least ten people happened to be on the street while the attack took place; it was a busy late evening, the sun still shining. Several other cars full of people watched, too; they drove off as the attack unfolded.

At least two women on the street had the foresight to record video of the beating and give it to police when they arrived. People helped the man get to the curb, where he sat until an ambulance arrived.

One of the women moved his car, which had been blocking traffic, out of the street. Four women (in addition to me) told police what we saw. One witness told cops that one of the attackers had had a Little Caeser’s pizza in hand before the beating.

The driver told emergency medical technicians that he’d suffered a heart attack recently. He was conscious, and his nose and lip had stopped bleeding. With help, he was able to get up and remain standing; his eye was badly bruised. An ambulance crew took him to Yale-New Haven Hospital’s St. Raphael campus. A family member retrieved his vehicle.

Lt. Herb Sharp said Tuesday night that the man had sustained non-life threatening injuries from the attack. And police had not apprehended the attackers by late Tuesday evening.

Police, who obtained a copy of one of the videos showing the attack, are looking for the suspects and hope to arrest them on assault, breach of peace, and criminal mischief charges, according to police spokesman Officer David Hartman. Police also took the Huffy Trail Runner into evidence.

Hartman praised the actions of the women who served as witnesses, especially the women who took video of the incident.

This is what we beg of the public: Become a good witness,” Hartman said. Everybody’s phone has a camera on it now. That’s what’s really important.”

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