Police seek man accused of punching Chelsea bar bouncer Duane Patterson, who later died from injuries
NEW YORK -- The search is on for the man who police say punched a beloved Chelsea bar bouncer who died from his injuries.
The NYPD has released video of the suspect, and CBS2's Lisa Rozner spoke to the victim's grieving wife.
Melissa Buchholz and Duane Patterson, of Inwood, were married 27 years.
"Never will he lay beside me ever again or talk to me, my best friend," Buchholz said.
She says the 61-year-old father and Air Force veteran worked as a bouncer at Billymark's West Bar on Ninth Avenue near West 29th Street for the last eight years.
It's outside of the bar at 3 a.m. on the morning of Christmas Eve that police say Patterson was punched in his face with a closed fist.
Patterson's wife says it happened after an argument because he told the man the bar was closed.
"So then the guy walked away, so when Duane turned to go back inside the bar, he came and cold-cocked him on the left side with something," Buchholz said.
The NYPD says Patterson was knocked to the ground, causing him to hit his head. The suspect ran away.
Patterson was taken to the hospital in critical condition. His wife says he suffered a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for for days.
"He was very good at what he did, so there was never an altercation because he would resolve it and diffuse it before it would escalate," Buchholz said.
Friends called him "D-train."
"A loyal and dependable friend. D was solid, you know? He was a pillar of our little community," friend Tamara Gardellis said.
"Very witty, very funny, great dancer, just overall just beautiful person in all," Buchholz said.
His wife has this message for the suspect, who she hopes is caught soon: "I hope you suffer as much as you put my husband through, and the pain that we feel, I hope you feel it ten times, million times more."
The family says Patterson is helping others after life as an organ donor. His kidney has gone to his younger sister.