New surveillance footage obtained exclusively by NBC 4 New York shows a man run up and sucker-punch a patron sitting at a covered patio of an East Village bar.
The footage captured at B Bar and Grill near East 4th Street on Wednesday shows the assailant run up from out of the frame as the patron sits and stares at a fireplace. The attacker throws one haymaker after another until several others rush to help the victim.
The 29-year-old victim, who asked not to be identified because the attacker is still on the loose, told NBC 4 New York that his head still hurts several days after the attack.
"It's a scary thing," he said. "It's not something anybody ever needs to go through."
The victim said there was no warning that he was about to be attacked and that he didn't remember saying anything to the man beforehand. He said over the weekend that he thought he may have been targeted because he was gay.
He refused to contact police and seek medical attention the night of the incident, but went to Lennox Hill Hospital and reported the incident from the hospital, police said.
Anyone with information on the attacker should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
