Suspect arrested, charged with murder in deadly beating of man in Brooklyn
DYKER HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A man was arrested and charged with murder in the brutal and deadly unprovoked attack of a man in Brooklyn last month.
Philip Meyers, referred to as a "neighborhood bully" by NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, was arrested and charged on Monday for the murder of 55-year-old John Sarquiz.
The 45-year-old Brooklyn resident is accused of brutally assaulting the victim on March 29, outside of a Brooklyn deli on 13th Avenue, during what police say was an unprovoked attack.
Video in the player above is from a previous report.
Sarquiz, who at age 55 gave up his career to take care of his ailing mother, took a walk to the market in Dyker Heights when the suspect jumped him with no warning at all and beat him to death.
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"He punches the victim from behind," NYPD Detective Bureau Chief James Essig said. "The suspect then kicks him multiple times in the head rendering him unconscious. He removes money from his wallet and then throws the wallet back onto our victim."
He would die in the hospital a few days later.
Police said Meyers is a repeat violent offender who's well known in the neighborhood, but for weeks after the murder, he was nowhere to be found as Sarquiz's family waited desperately for word.
"It's been really difficult for myself and my family, anywhere we went in the neighborhood it seemed any guy could be that guy, so it felt like we were always looking over our shoulder," the victim's sister Christine Sarquiz said.
Police believe Meyers was just laying low all this time, but on Monday, was spotted on the street near his home in nearby Bath Beach. The NYPD's Fugitive Squad was looking for him and quickly swooped in.
"We just want justice for John," the victim's sister Catherine Sarquiz said. "He shouldn't have been on the streets to begin with. Not after what he's done."
Police say Meyers, who also goes by the last name Mastrage, had already been arrested 17 times in his 45 years, including one time for murder. Now he's been arrested again, this time charged with murder and robbery.
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