Three teenage girls are being hunted by the NYPD after the death of a New York City cab driver following a brutal beating on Saturday in which the trio are said to have been involved.
Two other male suspects have been charged in connection with the death of Kutin Gyimah, 52, on Thursday, but police are now trying to arrest the remaining female suspects.
All five were caught on surveillance footage as the father-of-four was severely beaten and kicked before one of the thugs dealt him a fatal blow to the head, leaving the taxi driver motionless on the pavement at 6.30am.
The video shows five youths, including three teenage girls, surrounding the father of four, Kutin Gyimah, 52, before they began punching and kicking him
The two men allegedly involved were arrested by the NYPD. The remaining three girls are now being hunted
The driver, seen in red, was completely powerless to fight back during the attack
The newly released video shows Gyimah being attacked by five passengers who investigators said were refusing to pay their fare and attempted to rob him early Saturday morning in Far Rockaway.
Footage shows each of the five appearing to take turns hitting the man who couldn’t fight back.
After the attack, all of the suspects could be seen smiling for the camera as they walked away and entered an apartment building.
The three girls would be seen smiling as they walked away from the attack
Surveillance footage shows the suspects laughing and smiling among themselves
Some of the teenage girls were pictured walking into a nearby apartment building
The three teenage girls should be relatively easy to identify given their different hair colors
One of two men charged in connection with the death of a New York cab driver is being led out of the 101st Precinct
The suspect was taken to a waiting police car with his hands tied
One of the two arrested male suspects is placed in a squad car
One of the suspects gets out of the NYPD car
Gyimah fell to the ground and hit his head, resulting in serious head injuries from which he later succumbed.
Two men turned themselves in in the 101st Precinct Wednesday night, according to the NYPD.
Austin Amos, 20, faces multiple charges including manslaughter, gang assault and theft.
Amos has six prior arrests, including for robbery, criminal mischief, criminal contempt and sexual misconduct, police said. He was accompanied by his mother when he turned himself in to police on Wednesday night.
The second of two suspects is marched out of the NYPD’s 101st Precinct
Both suspects turned themselves in to police Wednesday night
The suspect was taken to a waiting squad car outside of the 101st Precinct on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens
Nickolas Porter, 20, faces gang attack and theft allegations. Investigators are still looking for the three other teenage girls involved, aged 13, 15 and 16.
Gyimah died after chasing the group near Arverne Boulevard in Queens on Saturday morning.
He was taken to St. John’s Hospital, where he later died from his severe injuries.
Two male suspects, both aged 20, are now in custody, police confirmed this morning. They have not yet been charged with the attack.
A male suspect is seen delivering a fatal blow to his head that sent Gyimah to the ground
‘He was a good, good man. He was my backbone. I’m just lost My children’s hero,” said Gyimah’s wife Abigail Barwuah (pictured together), who couldn’t hold back her tears
The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers had offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest following the ordeal.
It comes as yellow cab drivers in New York face the burden of debt and bankruptcy after investing in cab medals – but failing to make substantial profits worth the price of their license certificate.
Thousands of drivers are on the brink of financial ruin, with the average debt of medallion taxi drivers reaching $600,000, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance.
Police identified Austin Amos, 20, of Queens, as one of the suspects wanted in connection with Gyimah’s murder. He is now in custody with another 20-year-old. Police are also looking for three teenage girls between the ages of 13 and 16
Overwhelming demand for other app-based services like Uber, Lyft and Via in the capital has also pressured yellow cab drivers and increased competition.
Gyimah, whose wife Abigail Barwuah said she was “lost without him,” had four children, ages eight, seven, five and three.
Footage from the nasty attack showed him getting out of his cab and chasing the group of thugs on foot before circling him.
He was seen raising his arms to protect himself from the brutal ambush near Beach 54th Street and Arverne Boulevard as the group continued their attack.
When Gyimah was able to get to his feet, one of the men hit him on the head, knocking him to the ground.
The five suspects then fled the scene, leaving Gyimah, who suffered a fatal head injury, lying motionless on the sidewalk.
The video shows the suspects later walking up the stairs of an apartment block.
The five suspects run away from the scene, leaving Gyimah, who has suffered a fatal head injury, lying motionless on the sidewalk
The video shows the suspects later walking up the stairs of an apartment block.
The video shows the suspects later walking through a corridor of an apartment block
His wife Abigail told CBS2: “I don’t know what to do right now. I lost. I lost.
‘He was a good, good man. He was my backbone. I’m just lost My children’s hero,’ said Abigail, unable to hold back her tears.
“He was all we had. He was my children’s hero. He was my backbone. He was the one I look up to. I look up to God but aside [from] God he was the only one I looked up to.
“I’m telling them to turn themselves in because they’ll get caught,” she added.
A GoFundMe page has been launched for Gyimah’s wife and four children, and so far more than $109,600 has been raised. The money will be used to pay for his funeral, but also to support the family and the children’s education.
One of Gyimah’s colleagues wrote on the site: “He was one of our taxi drivers who worked honestly and tirelessly to support his family.
“During the worst days of the pandemic, he was one of the few who continued to drive a cab non-stop to support our city and its citizens. Please help him honor his work and help his family.
“He was a husband and father of 4 children aged 8, 7, 5 and 3. He won’t come home anymore.”