An Uber driver has died after being attacked by a pedestrian with a hockey stick, police say.
Randolph Tolk, 68, died early Sunday after the confrontation in New York’s Chealsea neighborhood, where police say 39-year-old pedestrian Kohji Kosugi attacked him with a hockey stick.
Tolk was driving south on 11th Avenue late Sunday night when he stopped at an intersection near Chelsea Piers, which contains an ice skating rink.
Police say that Kosugi approached Tolk’s Toyota Camry on foot and began banging on his hood with a hockey stick.
Randolph Tolk, 68, (left) died early Sunday after the confrontation in New York’s Chealsea neighborhood, where police say Kohji Kosugi, 39, (right) attacked him with a hockey stick
Police say Tolk was stopped at this cross walk when Kosugi, crossing the street, banged on his car with a hockey stick and struck him when he got out. Chelsea Piers is seen right
Tolk got out of his car and confronted Kosugi, who then knocked the grandfather of three down with the hockey stick and continued to strike him while he was down, according to police.
The driver manged to get back in his car, and continued south for about half a mile, until his car struck the center median.
Kosugi claims to be a doctor, but is not licensed to practice medicine in New York
A witness to the attack also saw the crash and immediately called 911.
Paramedics rushed Tolk to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12.40am Sunday.
It’s unclear whether Tolk died from injuries sustained in the crash or in the hockey stick attack.
Uber said he was off-duty at the time of the attack.
‘The attacker is a coward and should be in jail, beating and elderly man with a hockey stick is unforgivable,’ NY Federation of Taxi Drivers spokesperson Fernando Mateo told Pix11.
‘We don’t know the cause of death but we are sure it is related to the blow that knocked him to the ground.’
Kosugi fled the scene on foot into Chelsea, police say, but was arrested around 2.40pm on Sunday.
As homicide detectives hauled Kosugi out of the 10th Precinct in handcuffs, with a hooded jacket pulled low over his face, he did not respond to shouted questions from reporters
Tolk was born in Brooklyn and previously worked in the garment industry, inspecting women’s sweaters before they were shipped to retailers like Walmart and Target, his son told the New York Times.
He had borrowed a car to work for Uber, a job he hated but which allowed him to remain in New York, a city he loved, the son said.
Kosugi claims on LinkedIn to be a doctor, but is not licensed to practice medicine in the state of New York.
He was charged with manslaughter in the incident.
As he was hauled out of the 10th Precinct in handcuffs, with a hooded jacket pulled low over his face, Kosugi did not respond to shouted questions from reporters.