What to Know
- Souleymane Porgo was brutally beaten in front of his family at his own Bronx stand last week
- He remains hospitalized in critical condition with a fractured skull
- The five men who attacked him, all believed to be in their 20s, remain at large
One of five people suspected in last week's brutal attack on 53-year-old street vendor, a vicious beatdown that left the man with a fractured skull outside his own Bronx stand, is in custody, police said Tuesday.
Authorities didn't immediately identify the suspect, and investigators are still believed to be looking for the other four men.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of dollars in donations have poured in to help the longtime street vendor, Souleymane Porgo, following the May 2 attack.
Police say Porgo fended off one of the suspects after the man tried to steal a purse Porgo had for sale, but the suspect returned hours later with four of his friends. They all walked up to Porgo, who was with his wife and children, and proceeded to punch him in the face, police said. He fell to the ground unconscious and the group continued to pound him as his horrified family looked on, leaving him with a fractured skull.
Porgo, who came to the U.S. from Burkina Faso and has worked as a street vendor for a decade, remains hospitalized in critical condition with bleeding in the brain. His family said last week he was in a coma.
Several GoFundMe pages have popped up to raise money to support Porgo's treatment. One created by the Street Vendor Project, a nonprofit group, raised nearly $22,000 from 587 people in four days, more than seven times its original goal. The group planned to hold a news briefing at the scene of the attack, on 149th Street and Third Avenue, Tuesday morning.
Another GoFundMe campaign started by one of Porgo's friends raised nearly $18,000 from 614 people in four days, also surpassing its goal.
