3 Suspects Sought In 2 Violent Muggings In Ozone Park
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens neighborhood was on edge Friday after a pair of violent muggings.
At least two people were attacked, beaten with a rock, and then robbed.
A surveillance camera captured the terrifying moment when a 32-year-old immigrant from Nepal was viciously attacked and robbed in Queens as he walked home from work Sunday night.
The victim, Prajwal Sujakhu, was walking on 77th Street in Ozone Park just before 11:30 p.m. when he said three men ran up behind him, hit him in the face with a rock, knocking him to the ground, and robbed him.
"They took my wallet and the money and the cellphone. There was like $300 in my wallet," the victim told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria.
His face was covered with blood when a neighbor found him.
"The victim just he tell me, 'Help me, help me,'" witness Giash Uddin, who called police, told CBS2's Steve Langford.
Sujakhu needed seven stitches in his face. He has a black eye, and doctors said he may need surgery.
On Friday, he showed TV 10/55's Tracee Carrasco his badly beaten face. He said he never saw the attack coming.
"I didn't see nothing. It's like they hit in the front, so I was unconscious," he said.
He said he hopes police catch the suspects before they have a chance to strike again.
"I work hard, they just want easy money," he said.
Sujakhu, who works part-time in a grocery store and is hoping to work as a musician, said he'll be careful when he's out.
"I'll check every time I walk over here. I'll look behind," he said.
Police believe the same three suspects robbed another man the night before about a block away.
In that incident, police said the suspects knocked a 25-year-old man to the ground and beat him near Glenmore Avenue and 76th Street around 2 a.m. Saturday. They ran off with his cellphone and wallet.
The victim suffered two black eyes and cuts to his head. He was taken to New York-Presbyterian/Queens Hospital in stable condition.
Now, residents are urging each other to be more aware.
"We have to stop being on the phone right now. We have to pay more attention, to watch, see something coming from behind us," Zakaria Ali said.
Anyone with information is asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, visit the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.