An elderly New York City man is dead after a suspect who had been in police custody and released just hours earlier allegedly shoved him down a subway entrance staircase in Manhattan on Thursday night, authorities told WCBS-TV.
The fatal assault on the 76-year-old victim unfolded shortly before 9:30 p.m. in the Chelsea neighborhood near West 18th Street and 7th Avenue, the station reported, according to The Blaze. One viewer reacting to the story captured the public mood with a single word: Disgusting.
Responding officers discovered the victim, identified as Ross Falzone, lying on the subway stairs with severe head trauma, WCBS said. He was transported to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and later died.
Police believe they know who is responsible, as the same suspect had been detained earlier in the day, the outlet noted. Around 3:30 p.m., officers encountered the man acting erratically outside the NYPDs 17th Precinct, police told WCBS.
The male was taken into custody and transported to Bellevue Hospital, the station said. WCBS added that he was brought to the psychiatric emergency room for evaluation and released an hour later.
Surveillance footage from around 9:30 p.m. shows Falzone approaching the subway entrance, police told WCBS. The same male seen in custody earlier is then observed walking quickly behind him and shoving the elderly man down the steps.
Falzone struck his head about halfway down the staircase, the station reported. Emergency responders rushed him again to Bellevue Hospital, but he died just before 3 a.m. Friday, WCBS said.
Police are now searching for the suspect, and the NYPD has not released his name or description, the station added. In a city already plagued by rising crime and lenient policies toward dangerous offenders, online observers reacting under the WCBS video say they are fed up with a system that fails to protect law-abiding citizens like Falzone.
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