Queens delicatessen owner attacked by man in Woodside store; victim’s son speaks out

WOODSIDE, Queens (WABC) – The son of a delicatessen owner is speaking out after his father was brutally attacked in Queens by a man who community members say has caused trouble in the past.

Surveillance video captured the relentless, violent and brutal attack on a 65-year-old deli worker in Woodside.

The video shows a man with green hair colliding with a deli clerk. When the clerk confronts him, the man freaks out.

The angry suspect then begins to beat the victim with an endless barrage of punches, throwing him to the ground.

The suspect then throws the victim around, but he is not finished yet. He then kicks the man in the face. The third kick knocks the victim unconscious.

The attacker then kicks the lifeless victim in the face seven more times.

The suspect then wants to leave, but decides to come back. He is not finished yet. He kicks the victim in the head three more times.

“A certain part of his bones is detached from a very important part of his face,” said the victim’s son, Abraham Alshawish.

His father, Abdullah Alshawish, is in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital with internal brain bleeding and a facial fracture.

It happened on Monday around 11:20 p.m. in a delicatessen on the corner of 64th Street and Broadway.

Local residents say they recognize the suspect.

“When you mentioned the green hair, I knew I had seen him because everyone looks at him, everyone crosses the street when they see him. He’s weird. He’s definitely weird,” said one resident.

Another resident said the suspect talks to himself all the time and always comes by at night.

Police describe the suspect as a man in his thirties, about 6 feet tall.

As for the victim, his son says his father was a “really nice guy.”

“He’s kind of old-fashioned when he talks to random strangers,” Alshawish said. “I know it sounds trite, but he’s the type of person who helps like anyone else.”

Doctors hope that the internal bleeding in his head will subside enough so that he can undergo surgery on Thursday.

If not, they are not quite sure what to do at this point.

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