Sex Fiend Who Nearly Killed NYC Man With Sucker Punch Freed Without Bail
A convicted sex offender who allegedly cold-cocked a man on a Bronx street — leaving him in a coma with brain injuries — was freed without bail Thursday after getting his attempted-murder charges reduced in the unprovoked attack.
Bui Van Phu, 55, was instead charged by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office with assault and harassment, both misdemeanors, for the brutal knockout punch last Friday that left 52-year-old Jesus Cortes unconscious on the street, according to a criminal complaint.
The victim required brain surgery and is now in a medically induced coma, authorities said.
Phu and Cortes did not know each other, and there did not appear to be any interaction between them prior to the punch, police said.
The victim was leaving the Fuego Tipico Restaurant on East 188th Street near the Grand Concourse in Fordham Manor around 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 12 when he stopped near a group of people chatting outside, cops said.
Cortes, shown in surveillance footage carrying a backpack, was followed out by a balding man wearing a black T-shirt.
The man put on what appear to be work gloves — before randomly slugging the victim from behind, causing him to fall onto the sidewalk and hit his head, the footage released WedneIsday shows.
A convicted sex offender who allegedly cold-cocked
Bui Van Phu walked up to the man a punched him from behind.DCPI
The victim was leaving the Fuego Tipico Restaurant on East
Phu allegedly confessed to the crime to his parole officer.DCPI
The convicted sex offender left the 52-year-old victim with a skull fracture,
Phu was freed without bail after getting his attempted murder charges reduced.DCPI
The man put on what appear to be work gloves — before randomly slugging the victim from behind, causing him to fall onto the sidewalk and hit his head, the footage released Wednesday shows.
Cortes was taken to Jacobi Medical Center with a skull fracture, broken cheekbone and bleeding in the brain, according to authorities.
Phu was convicted of first-degree sex abuse in The Bronx in 1995 and was sentenced to six years to life in prison, according to state records.
He was paroled in 2019 and is now registered as a Level 3 sex offender — the most serious designation — for sexually abusing the 17-year-old girl in 1994, according to state records.
The attack came just a day before Queens taxi driver Kutin Gyimah was beaten to death by five customers who allegedly attacked him when he tried to confront them for running off without paying the fare.
Two suspects, Austin Amos and Nickolas Porter, both 20, surrendered to cops at the 101st Precinct in Queens late Wednesday.
Bui Van Phu, 55, was instead charged by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office with assault and harassment, both misdemeanors, for the brutal knockout punch last Friday that left 52-year-old Jesus Cortes unconscious on the street, according to a criminal complaint.
The victim required brain surgery and is now in a medically induced coma, authorities said.
The new charges against Phu are not bail eligible, and a Bronx judge cut him loose on supervised release at his arraignment Thursday, a spokesperson for the DA’s Office said.
“The NYC police charged him with Attempted Murder and when we got the case we evaluated and charged based on evidence we had,” a DA’s Office spokesperson said. “The investigation is continuing.”
Phu allegedly confessed the crime to his parole officer, according to the complaint against him.
“I hit someone and he’s in the hospital. I don’t know if he’s dead,” he told the officer, according to the complaint. “The police are looking for me.”
Phu and Cortes did not know each other, and there did not appear to be any interaction between them prior to the punch, police said.
Ben Feuerherd
NY Post
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