A green-haired customer caught on video beating a 62-year-old Queens deli worker into critical condition has been nabbed, police said Thursday.
Osvel Diaz is facing attempted murder and assault charges for the crazed June 17 attack inside the deli on Broadway near 64th St. in Woodside.
Diaz, 29, bumped into the store employee, apparently sparking the 11:20 p.m. clash. Surveillance video from inside the business shows the attacker, dressed in black and sporting a mop of green hair, pummeling the victim and throwing him to the floor.
As the victim attempted to get up, trying in vain to kick the attacker away, the attacker continued to pound on him, forcing him into a corner by the coffee machine.
Another worker tried to calm the assailant down but the burly attacker continued to punch and kick the worker.
With his helpless victim unconscious, his head propped up in the corner, the attacker kicked the man in the head seven times in a row before stopping, the video shows. The assailant begins to head out the door but turns around and kicks the older man in the head three more times until the man’s face is soaked in blood.
Medics rushed the worker to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition. He suffered a brain bleed and multiple fractured bones, his son told ABC7 NY Eyewitness News.
“There’s a certain part of his bones that are detached from a very important part of his face,” the victim’s son said.
Cops nabbed Diaz near the deli Wednesday evening. He had a young child with him when he was arrested and was charged with endangering the welfare of a child but it was not immediately clear why.
Diaz has been repeatedly arrested over the years for assault, robbery and making graffiti, a police source said. Last year, he was arrested once for assault and robbery and twice for making graffiti, cops said.
Local residents called Diaz a neighborhood menace who may be unbalanced and is often seen talking to himself.
“Once you mentioned the green hair I knew I saw him because everybody looks at him, everybody crosses the street when they see him,” one resident told ABC7 NY. “He’s weird. He’s definitely weird.”
Diaz’s arraignment on the attempted murder charges was pending in Queens Criminal Court Thursday. He lives in Forest Hills, according to cops.