[Via
EaterNY]
On Sept. 28, 2010, an air conditioner fell six stories and landed on the Winebar canopy on Second Avenue at Fourth Street.
Here's how the
Post illustrated the accident:
According
to published reports, the AC bounced off the canopy and hit 67-year-old Tony Franzese, who was walking his dog as he does every morning, in the head. He suffered severe head injuries, and the EMTs took him to Bellevue Hospital.
The
Post reported that Franzese, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, had been evicted from his apartment... and was due to leave the building on Sept. 30.
And that's the last we heard of this accident. Until yesterday.
The Post reported that Franzese had filed a $21 million lawsuit against the landlord. However, according to his attorney, Franzese vanished about a year ago.
It gets a little complicated. The NYPD brought in a "John Doe" to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital on Tuesday. An NYPD sergeant photographed the man and fingerprinted him for the Missing Persons Bureau. A few days later the officer saw the
Post article about the missing man and realized that the patient at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt was Franzese.
The NYPD returned to the hospital only to discover that officials had already released Franzese.
The officer who took his photo told the
Post, "He's extremely incoherent. He couldn’t even say his name to me. He couldn’t formulate words." Apparently he "suffers from bi-polar disorder and serious brain injuries."
Here's the photo of Franzese from the hospital:
Per the
Post: "But because authorities now have his fingerprints and have connected them to his identity, they hope Franzese will be found when he turns up at another hospital."