THE BRONX — A suspect in a gang attack callously munched on a snack as he walked away from the brutal beating of a purse vendor on a Melrose street Tuesday, NYPD officials said.
The incident started when one of the four suspects tried to steal a purse from the table of Souleymane Porgo, 53, near East 149th Street and Third Avenue — and the vendor stopped him, an NYPD spokesman said.
Souleymane Porgo, 53, was beaten unconscious in front of his kids for stopping a thief, friends said. (Facebook/Souleymane Porgo)
The suspect left, but returned about 5 p.m. with four other men and attacked Porgo, who was with his wife and two daughters, punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground where they kept punching him, police said.
"The guy ran up and said, 'Who want what now?' Then the guy in the pink hit him and gave the first blow," said longtime friend Amalio Garcia, 35.
The attackers continued to pummel Porgo, who's from Niger, as he lay there unconscious with a fractured skull and brain swelling, officials said.
"They did this in front of his kids. They were both under 6 years old. One was yelling, 'Daddy!' But he was stiff like a board. I thought he was dead," Garcia said.
"The wife said, 'They hit him! He's dead!' He was bleeding from the mouth," the friend added.
Slowly, the gang began to disperse, including the man who threw the first punch and started eating a snack as he walked away, video shows.
Porgo was taken to Lincoln Medical Center where he's listed in critical condition, police said.
"They took a piece of his skull out. He's got maybe 200 staples. He's got a machine he's hooked up to. He's breathing, but not on his own. He's fighting for his life, right now," Garcia said.
"He's still on medication. He looks very swollen. I want to cry. He's in bad shape. His face looks like a soccer ball," the friend added.
Doctors have told Porgo's visitors that he will recover, but they don't know when, friends said.
"He's not OK, but he's going to be OK. They did surgery. He's breathing, but his eyes are closed. He's not conscious. He's hooked up to a big machine," said fellow vendor Souley Saley, 47, who visited the victim in the hospital.
"He's a very nice guy," Saley added.
Saley said the area is problem-prone and full of thieves.
"This is a dangerous job. The area is not good. People try to steal, take stuff, and if you say no, there's trouble. That's what happened here the other day," the vendor said.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
