Customer fatally beaten at bodega in Brooklyn

CROWN HEIGHTS (WABC) -- There's a huge manhunt in Brooklyn for the five men who viciously beat a customer at a neighborhood bodega.

The man died hours later.

Monday night, police released pretty clear surveillance photos hoping that will help lead to an arrest.

Flowers and a candle were left outside the victim's apartment after 38-year-old Michael Brown died following a violent beating.

The attack happened in front of a deli on Utica Avenue in Crown Heights.

4 a.m. Saturday morning, police say five men pounced on the victim and savagely beat him.

Eyewitness News is told one man stomped on the victim's head.

Help eventually arrived, but Eyewitness News is told Brown refused treatment and went home just a few blocks away.

By Saturday afternoon, an ambulance was called to his house, he was already losing consciousness and spitting up blood.

Moments later, he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

"I was really shocked. Shaking all day," a neighbor said.

"It's ridiculous. Who does that?" another neighbor said.

"He was a very friendly guy, always seeking to help others. Nice guy," a neighbor said.

Neighbors say Brown worked in construction and lived with his fianc.

Officials believe one of the suspects grabbed the victim's cell phone and told him to come outside if he wanted it back.

When the victim stepped out, he was surrounded and attacked.

The deli owner, who served Brown hours before the attack, says he wishes he could have helped.

"If I was here, maybe stopped people from attacking, but I was home," the owner said. "I felt so sorry. Customer came here all the time."

"Do they look familiar?" Eyewitness News asked.

"No, not at all," the deli owner said.

There's no word yet on a motive. It's also hard to say if the victim would've survived if he had gone to the hospital immediately.