ROCKAWAY PARK — A man is paralyzed from the neck down after being attacked by a fellow resident at his Queens adult home — at least the second serious incident at medical homes on the Rockaway peninsula in recent months, according to the NYPD and police sources.
The 56-year-old victim and the 54-year-old suspect got into an argument inside a recreation room at The New Gloria's Manor on Beach 119th Street, near Rockaway Beach Boulevard, in Rockaway Park around 3:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to the criminal complaint.
The suspect punched the victim in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on a table, the sources said.
While both were on the ground, the alleged attacker, identified as Bienvenido Cruz, 54, jumped on the victim's chest and continued to pummel him four to five times, according to the criminal complaint.
Cruz then slammed the victim's head into the table at least five times, according to an eyewitness.
The victim was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where a doctor said he is paralyzed from the neck down, according to the criminal complaint.
Cruz, 54, who has a prior arrest for weapons possession in Suffolk County, was charged with felony assault, police said. It's not clear what caused the fight.
He was being held in lieu of $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond.
In October, a resident of Beacon Rehabilitation and Nursing Home, a half-mile from New Gloria's Manor, was charged with beating his roommate to death with a piece of a wheelchair.
The two men were reportedly arguing over a privacy curtain that separates their beds.
Officials from New Gloria's Manor, which is privately owned and typically serves people 55 and older, did not immediately respond to calls for comment.
A call to Legal Aid, which is representing Cruz, was not immediately returned.
