[
Screengrab from CBS 2]
An East Village resident is under arrest after a road-rage dispute turned deadly late Saturday night in Chelsea.
According to the Post, Kohji Kosugi, who was walking, allegedly attacked Uber driver Randolph Tolk, 68, at West 20th Street and 11th Avenue with a hockey stick.
The details, as reported by the
Post:
Tolk was driving his Toyota Camry southbound and stopped at the crosswalk when Kosugi, who was on foot, began tapping on its hood with his stick, a witness told police.
They continued arguing until Kosugi used the hockey stick to knock the older man to the ground, then stomped on his chest, cops said.
Tolk, a grandfather of three, got back into the car and headed south, driving about half a mile before crashing into the center divider near Jane Street, cops said.
Paramedics responded and rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where Tolk, who lived in West New York, N.J., was pronounced dead.
Kosugi ran away into the Chelsea neighborhood, but was arrested around 2:40 p.m. and charged with manslaughter, cops said.
Kosugi, 39, had been at Chelsea Piers. Police found him by checking surveillance footage there,
CBS 2 reported.
Per CBS 2:
Police have not made it clear whether Tolk was killed by the blow to the head, or whether it disoriented him and he died in the crash. The New York City Medical Examiner’s office will determine the cause of his death.
The
Post said that Kosugi lived on East 10th Street, where he apparently wasn't too well-known.
A woman who lives next door to Kosugi on East 10th Street ... said: "I've only seen a woman leave that apartment. I’ve never seen him."
"I wasn't sure why the police have been here all day. We don't talk to our neighbors that much," she said.
"It's scary that…he lives next door to me and the cops have been here all day and I had no clue."
Updated 5:30 p.m.
Kosugi
appeared in court today.
To the
Post:
Defense lawyer David Jeffries argued in court that the alleged attack came only after Tolk got out of his car, and that prosecutors would have a hard time connecting it to Tolk’s death following the crash about half a mile away.
Bail for Kosugi, who works at the Nakamura NYC restaurant on Delancey, was set at $500,000 cash or $750,000 bond.
In a separate story, the
Post interviews Kosugi's teammates who he played hockey with at Chelsea Piers.
Kosugi played in back-to-back games, at 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., before Saturday’s fatal incident, the teammate said. He played in two games prior to the altercation. "Kosugi, a center, scored two goals during the first game, in which the Tsunami beat the Wild Turkeys, 5-3."
Meanwhile, the
Daily News reported that the victim had his own history with the police.
In January 2012, city marshals were towing Tolk’s car and he refused to get out, police said.
Police arrived and tried to take him out of the car. He took a swing at them, then bit an officer hard enough to draw blood.
He was charged with assault, obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest. The case is sealed.
Cops busted Tolk again on Oct. 1, 2014 for assault, resisting arrest and menacing as a hate crime. That arrest is also sealed.
