Dec 10, 2008 6:14 am US/Eastern
$27,000 Reward For Info On Bushwick Bias Attack
NYPD Releases Sketch Of 1 Of The Thugs That Put Ecuadorean Immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay On Death's Door
Reporting
Lou Young
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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This is a sketch of one of the suspects involved in the brutal attack on an Ecuadorean immigrant on Dec. 7 in Brooklyn.
CBS
The Brooklyn bias attack on an Ecuadorean immigrant which left him in a coma is now a homicide investigation.
Police believe Ecuadorean immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay was beaten because he is gay.
Late Tuesday, the NYPD released a description of one of the thugs in the brutal attack.
Sucuzhanay remained on life support at Elmhurst Hospital on Tuesday night, but there is no prospect of recovery and police have now classified the weekend bias attack as a homicide. They also have a sketch to show you of one of the attackers.
He's described as 6 feet tall, 18 to 20 years of age, with a thin build. He is one of three men who leaped from a burgundy SUV to set upon two Ecuadoran brothers as they walked in Bushwick in the early hours of Sunday morning.
It's a black-on-Hispanic hate crime that has alarmed leaders from both groups. Witnesses said Sucuzhanay fell as the men taunted him with gay and ethnic slurs, and many believe the attack was fueled by anti-immigrant sentiment.
"These are haters," said Fernando Mateo of Hispanics Across America. "They feel displaced, so they are like, 'want them out of here.'"
It's a pattern some feel will be exacerbated by the economic downturn as people in trouble search for scapegoats.
Reverend Herbert Daughtry and activist Richard Green added $5,000 on Tuesday night to the reward being offered for information about the attack.
"It is profoundly painful," Rev. Daughtry said. "I don't know what the reasons are. People just motivated by hatred, by a sense of despair."
Sucuzhanay's brother, meanwhile, said Tuesday his parents are trying to get to New York to deal with the painful decision of whether or not to disconnect the life support machines.
"I was the one that was giving them, talking to them very positive that my brother was okay," Diego Sucuzhanay said.
It is hoped the higher reward – now $27,000 -- will loosen some tongues in Brooklyn. Detectives are looking for a livery cab driver who provided a partial plate number and may know more. CBS 2 HD has also been told police have surveillance video that could help speed the search.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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