A son who raced with his dad outside their Queens pizzeria to help an older Asian woman they saw being brutally beaten by two men on the street was stabbed himself and suffered a punctured lung but says he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
Speaking from his hospital bed Tuesday, 38-year-old Louis Suljovic said he and his father were working at their Elmhurst pizzeria at the corner of Judge Street and Baxter Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. Saturday when they heard a woman yelling.
Suljovic and his 68-year-old dad ran outside and saw the woman had been stabbed in the back by the suspects, who had started to run away with the woman's purse. The father-son duo ran after them.
According to Suljovic, two male suspects stabbed them and a woman with the suspects whacked him over the head with a cane. Suljovic was stabbed once in the back and suffered a punctured lung. His father was stabbed nine times and also suffered a punctured lung. He remains hospitalized and wasn't in a condition to speak on Tuesday, but Suljovic says he believes they're both going to survive.
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The 38-year-old says he couldn't watch idly as the attack on the woman continued. She was older and helpless, Suljovic said. He also says police told him one of the suspects was wanted in connection with another anti-Asian attack the week before.
Suljovic insisted more action be taken to curb attacks against New York City's Asian community. Victims are being targeted, he said, and claimed, "no one is doing anything about it." Asked if he'd step up again, Sulijovic said, "100%."
According to police, the 61-year-old woman the father and son saw being attacked told authorities that she was pushed from behind and had her bag stolen. She also told authorities that the father and son did indeed run out to help her.
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Two suspects were eventually taken into custody and police say a large amount of what appeared to be heroin was discovered in the possession of one of them.
That would be 30-year-old Robert Whack, of Brooklyn, according to police. He faces charges including robbery, assault, gang assault and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the case. Whack had his bail set at $250,000 cash or $500,000 insurance company bond at his arraignment Tuesday.
He's due back in court Friday. It wasn't clear if Whack entered a plea, nor was information on a possible attorney for him immediately available.
Also arrested in the case and still awaiting arraignment Tuesday afternoon was Supreme Gooding, an 18-year-old Manhattan man. Gooding faces charges of robbery, gang assault, assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Attorney details for him weren't known either.
It also wasn't clear if the woman's purse was recovered.
