Cops cuffed a Luna Park security guard for allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old visitor of the Coney Island amusement park, who needed treatment at a nearby hospital on June 29 according to the NYPD.
A law enforcement source told Brooklyn Paper that the visitor was riding the go-karts with his girlfriend with their legs hanging out of the ride, but amusement park workers warned them to obey the Surf Avenue park’s rules — yet they proceeded to hop on the ride and to do it again.
Surveillance footage then shows the go-kart-rider approaching the security guard’s personal space and bumping his chest, before they engaged in a struggle that sent them both to the ground. During the scuffle, the park visitor cracks his head on the ground, forcing paramedics to rush the victim to NYU Langone Hospital in Sunset Park.
The girlfriend told a different story to the NYPD after the incident, claiming her partner got into a verbal dispute with the security guard who then struck him in the head several times.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s Office is continuing to investigate the case, but, as of now, has not found any evidence that shows the incident was more than an act of self-defense.
“There’s insufficient evidence at this time to prove that the guard was not justified in using force to defend himself,” said a DA spokesperson in a statement. “The investigation is ongoing and we will continue to gather evidence.”
The family of the 21-year-old told the New York Daily News that the SUNY Albany engineering student is in the hospital in a coma fighting for his life— after fracturing his skull when hitting his head on the concrete. He is on a ventilator and cannot breathe or function on his own, the newspaper reported.
An uncle told the Daily News the security guard beat his nephew relentlessly while surrounded by a group of Luna Park employees who were cheering him on, and that the security guard’s “last punch was so strong it made him fall on his back.”
Luna Park did not respond to a request for comment.
