A 34-year-old man was apparently beaten with cooking pans, then robbed of his phone and wallet, by a group who violently descended on him as he argued with another person in Manhattan late last month, authorities say.
According to police, the victim was near Ludlow and Rivington streets on the Lower East Side around 2:15 a.m. July 21 when a stranger walked up to him and started arguing.
It's not clear what the dispute was about, but a group of about five people came up as they were arguing and started to attack the victim -- hitting him repeatedly with what police say was believed to be cooking pans. Two of the group members led that attack and also were the ones to steal his phone and wallet, which had his ID, five credit cards and about $220 cash inside.
Those two ran off and were last seen heading north on Ludlow Street. It's not clear where the others involved in the fray went.
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The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment of head and knee injuries. He is expected to be OK.
Cops say the thieves wracked up $1,200 worth of charges on his credit cards after the theft.
Police released surveillance images of the suspects (above). Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-5777-TIPS.
