The Bobster
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61-year-old father dies after being punched in dispute over NYC parking spot: officials
A 61-year-old man died after a 30-year-old tow truck driver punched him in the face, causing him to fall back onto the pavement following a dispute over parking Saturday night in Brooklyn.
nypost.com
61-year-old dies after being punched in dispute over NYC parking spot: officials
By
Social Links for Isabel Keane
Published March 17, 2024, 9:24 a.m. ET
A 61-year-old man died after a 30-year-old tow truck driver allegedly punched him in the face, causing him to fall back onto the pavement following a dispute over parking Saturday night in Brooklyn.
The deadly dispute broke out around 8:45 p.m. at a Shell gas station at 1143 Clarkson Avenue in Brownsville, according to officials.
3 A 61-year old man died after being punched in the face at a Shell gas station in Brooklyn CITIZEN
3 The man was punched in the face by a 30-year old tow truck driver. CITIZEN
The argument “became physical” and the tow truck driver punched the older man in the face, causing him to “fall and hit the pavement,” police said.
A friend of the victim, who identified him as Carlyle Thomas, said Sunday morning that he lived right next door to the station and sometimes parks temporarily in gas station parking spots.
On Saturday evening, someone called Thomas to warn him that the gas station manager had called a tow truck to impound his car, the friend said.
“He came running. He open the door of the tow truck and the guy punch him in the head! He go down and bam!,” the tipster said.
“Dead. He die right there in front of pump 6! He never touch the guy, only touch his door and the guy come out and punch him.
3 A friend identified the victim as Carlyle Thomas.
“He’s a cool guy. Got a young son. Why they do that to him! One punch? Kill him?!”
The victim’s nephew Dominic Graham, 37, said his family was coming to the apartment Sunday morning after receiving the “tough” news.
“He was a good guy. Around here he was the neighborhood boss. He knows everyone. And everyone from the gas station to 93rd Street knew him. Everyone,” Graham said of his uncle, who worked at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, training and feeding the horses.
“He was in shock because he thought the gas station guys were cool because he was always in there helping them like unpacking the soda and chips and stuff. Not because he worked there but just because he was hanging around you know with his buddies or whatever, he thought they were friends.”
Emergency responders were called to the scene and brought Thomas to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m., police said.
The tow truck driver was taken into custody at the scene and charges were pending, according to the NYPD.