NYC Man Punched By Attacker Who Said ‘You Look Like Shia LaBeouf': Report

Mario Licato said he was randomly attacked because he resembles the famous actor

A Brooklyn man was randomly punched at a Manhattan subway station by an attacker who said it was "because you look exactly like Shia LaBeouf," Gothamist reports.

Mario Licato told the website he had just gotten off a subway train Saturday afternoon at the Delancey Street-Essex Street subway station on the Lower East Side when he was clocked.

"I didn’t even see the guy," he told Gothamist. "I just see his fist coming toward me. It knocked me, and while I was falling down the stairs, all I hear was, 'This is because you look exactly like Shia LaBeouf!'"

Licato, who told Gothamist he has been approached "at least 10 times" by people who said he resembles the actor, tumbled down the stairs and lost consciousness. He said a couple rushed to help him and called 911.  

EMTs ruled out a concussion and told him to get a butterfly bandage for his busted eyebrow, Licato told Gothamist. Police, who arrived a short time later, canvassed the area and asked questions.

Licato posted a photo of his injuries on Instagram, a bandage visible over his eyebrow and scuffs on his nose and brow.

"I wanna thank the guy who randomly decided he needed to hit me last night," he said in the post.

Licato told Gothamist he was back at work Monday but was still perplexed as to why someone would attack him for looking like LaBeouf.

"I wanna know what Shia LaBeouf did to him," Licato told Gothamist. "What did Shia LaBeouf do to him that he punched somebody that looks like him? He must have did something so mean."

The NYPD told People it is investigating the incident as an assault and no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon.

NBC 4 New York has reached out to Licato and representatives of LaBeouf for comment.

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