Michael Torres, 45, of Astoria, is in jail after being caught by police on Saturday, May 27. Torres allegedly went on a crime spree of riding up behind white victims in Astoria and Long Island City on his e-scooter and punching them in the head or body.
One of the incidents was captured on video and posted to Reddit, allegedly showing Torres riding up behind a 30-year-old man on 35th Street between Broadway and 31st Street and sucker-punching the victim while he was walking on the sidewalk with a woman.
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The video footage shows the suspect jumping off the scooter and then punching the victim in the side of the head with a left fist.
The video shows that the victim fell against his female companion, knocking her against several trash cans. The suspect then ran back up on the scooter and fled the scene northbound on 35th Street.
The Reddit user who posted the video said he was the victim of the attack and that the suspect shouted racial slurs at him. The victim suffered pain and bruising to his face. He refused medical attention on the scene, police said.
The first incident occurred on May 4 at around 6 p.m. in front of The Coffee Pot, a café located at 31-03 30th St., when Torres allegedly hit a 36-year-old man in the back of the head, police said. The victim was walking and had his 10-month-old child in a carrier at the time, police said.
News out of Astoria: A man is going around Astoria attacking people at random. There have been a total of 9 cases where people were assaulted, mapped cases so far (refer to below). Here’s a video of him sucker punching at random man with his wife. @CrimeInNYC @JCAndersonNYC pic.twitter.com/L88KhkTdeD
— Jay (@JayDavis2023) May 24, 2023
Torres was also charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child under the age of 17 in relation to the incident, police said.
On May 12, Torres allegedly attacked another man on the corner of 34th Avenue and 41st Street in Long Island City, police said. Torres ran up to the victim from behind and punched him several times in the head before fleeing on a black scooter westward on 34th Street, cops said.
Residents of Astoria can feel safer today thanks to your 114 Precinct Midnight Officers! The individual wanted for assaulting multiple residents while riding an EScooter has been apprehended. pic.twitter.com/dglgfWiDw6
— NYPD 114th Precinct (@NYPD114Pct) May 27, 2023
The next attack occurred around 7:10 a.m. on May 18, when Torres allegedly assaulted a 43-year-old woman outside P.S. 112 Dutch Kills, located at 25-05 37th Ave. in Long Island City.
The victim, cops said, was getting items out of her parked car when Torres rode up behind her on a scooter before unleashing several punches and kicks to her body.
The woman was transported to Mount Sinai and treated for her injuries.
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Then, on May 22 at around 9 p.m., a 23-year-old woman was allegedly attacked by Torres while standing in front of a residence on 31st Avenue and 30th Street in Astoria, police said.
The victim was pushed to the ground by Torres and then struck several times to the body, police said. Torres then fled the scene on a scooter southbound on 30th Street.
Torres was charged with five counts of hate crimes for the attacks.
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