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Shocking Video Shows Man Stabbed While Eating Breakfast on Street Corner, Collapsing in Crosswalk in Failed Bid to Escape

It's not clear if the victim and suspect knew each other prior to the altercation

A 31-year-old man died after being stabbed in the chest as he was eating breakfast on a street corner in Brighton Beach early Thursday, according to police and video from the scene. 

Surveillance video from a nearby store shows the 36-year-old suspect walk up to Lekarius Thomas as Thomas sits on a crate, eating, near Neptune Avenue and Brighton Fourth Street around 6:15 a.m. The suspect stabs him. 

Thomas sits still for a moment as if in shock, then gets up, clutching his chest. He backs away toward the intersection then starts to run into the crosswalk, the suspect walking calmly after him. 

Thomas gets to the other side of the street, then runs across the intersection on the other side and appears to try to stop a green cab. There's some other interaction between the suspect and the victim in distant view of the camera and then Thomas collapses in the crosswalk. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. 

The suspect was taken into custody at the scene. He has been identified as Ernest Dubinsky, also of Brooklyn. Police said Friday he had been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. It wasn't clear if he had an attorney.

It's also not clear what prompted the altercation, nor is it known if the men knew each other prior to it.

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