Vendor brutally attacked in the Bronx wakes up from coma
MELROSE, Bronx (WABC) -- After lying in a coma for more than a week, the vendor who was brutally beaten in the Bronx was awake and responsive on Thursday for the first time since he was attacked.
Souleymane Porgo, 53, was attacked May 2 in the Melrose section of the Bronx by five men, allegedly including Enrique Foote and Octavius Profit, both 18, who were arrested Thursday morning.
Foote and Profit are now off the streets, charged with gang assault, and on Thursday night were lead away and off to face a judge.
They join 21-year-old William Burgess, who surrendered to authorities on Tuesday.
Police say he's the one seen in the white T-shirt and blue shorts in the savage beating of Porgo last week.
Watch cellphone video of the attack:
The incident happened after police said one of the suspects tried to steal a handbag that the vendor was selling, and later came back with his friends looking for blood.
"He heard the conversation and he moved his leg to say I'm hearing what you guys are saying," said Ngande Ambroise, a member of the African Advisory Council.
Community advocates say while Porgo is not talking yet, his condition is dramatically improving.
Jumped by five men, he never had a chance. After he was knocked out cold, the suspects kept pummeling his head, eventually fracturing his skull according to police.
Ambroise, who has been by Porgo's side, says someone up above must be watching over him.
"You can really see the eyes open and then he closed it again," Ambroise said. "Well the family is devastated really. It's not something you can really do something right now. It's one of those situations you live day by day."
In the meantime, Porgo has two daughters in West Africa eager to be by their father's side.
Advocates say immigration issues are holding up their arrival.
The hope is that they'll arrive soon, and their father will be able to speak when they see him.
