Police Investigate Attack On Livery Cab Driver In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are investigating an attack on a livery cab driver in Brooklyn.
The incident occurred Friday night in the East New York section of the borough.
Livery driver Rafael Grullon said he was sitting in his car when someone reached through the open window and punched him in the face, CBS 2 reported.
Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, said it was a "totally unprovoked attack."
"It goes beyond anything we've ever seen in this industry," Mateo said.
The NYPD said it is looking for one suspect, but the NYSFTD said a pack of 10- to 15-year-old kids were involved in the attack.
"We've never seen anything like this before," Mateo told 1010 WINS. "We see men getting killed, stabbed, beaten, robbed, assaulted by adults, but never by children."
The 59-year-old married father of five is hospitalized in stable condition and will need surgery to repair his right eye, said Mateo.
Mateo believes the incident may have been some sort of gang initiation.
"There are videotapes from in front of the location as to how these kids converged, initiated their gang ritual and attacked this poor cab driver," Mateo said.
Grullon was not robbed, police said.
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