NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: In a disturbing incident captured on camera, a taxi driver in New York City fell victim to a brutal assault by a group of five people on a bustling Midtown Manhattan street. The shocking footage depicts three women and two men viciously attacking the cabbie with closed fists and shoes near the intersection of Sixth Avenue and West 34th Street on July 19.
The taxi driver, identified as Afzal Butt, endured a relentless and sustained barrage of blows from the assailants, despite his valiant attempts to avoid the attacks. As depicted in the video, the brutal assault on Butt caused him to lose his balance, and he slumped along the side of his cab. One of the women continued to hit him multiple times and even delivered a kick to his chest. Despite the harrowing situation, Butt tried to shield his head with his hands, desperately attempting to protect himself from further harm, while onlookers watched the disturbing scene without getting involved.
Who is Afzal Butt?
Afzal Butt is a struggling immigrant cabbie who emigrated to the United States from Pakistan. He has been working as a taxi driver in New York City since 2004, as per the New York Post. He has two adult children and lives with his wife in Upper Manhattan. Butt endured severe injuries to his chest, neck, and face during the disturbing attack that took place in Manhattan.
'They were all hitting me and kicking me everywhere'
On July 19, Butt got into an argument with a group of five people on Sixth Avenue and West 34th Street. The dispute started when he pulled over to clean up food that had been thrown into his taxi by unrelated scooter drivers. The group accused him of almost hitting them as he pulled over, which led to a verbal altercation. Unfortunately, the situation turned violent, and he was assaulted by the group.
"They were walking by and saying that I was going to run over them," he said. "I was just trying to clean my car. Then this lady and this boy started breaking my side window. She broke it. They started assaulting me," he said, adding that three more people joined in. "They were all hitting me and kicking me, everywhere on my body, my face," Butt said. Describing his injuries, he added, "My eye socket was swollen. I was dizzy and lightheaded. There’s so much pain in my neck. I still can’t move my neck. My arms, my knees, my hips. My chest felt like I was getting pressure on my chest. So much pain."
Two suspects were arrested but soon released
According to the police, two suspects, identified as 35-year-old Howard Colley and 51-year-old Natalie Morgan, were arrested in connection to the assault. Colley was charged with misdemeanor assault, while Morgan faced charges of criminal mischief. Both suspects were issued desk-appearance tickets and were released by the police. The decision to release them was based on the fact that the charges were misdemeanors, and the suspects had little or no serious criminal history, as per police sources. "If you’re angry, be angry at the criminal justice reforms — no criminal history and a misdemeanor, you have to issue [desk appearance tickets]," a police source said.
Butt expressed frustration and criticism towards New York's lenient bail-reform laws, referring to the system as "horrible." "If they’re not going to put them behind bars, this is a horrible system," fumed Butt. "I am hopeless and helpless with this system. Send the mayor the video and tell him die with the shame," the cabbie, expressing his anger at his helplessness.
Butt also said, "Everyone is disrespecting yellow-cab drivers. This is a job that there is no day when I’m driving that nobody curses at me." "The scooter guys, one of them stop next to me and hit my car. I tried to avoid. I pulled a little bit up to let them. But again they came next to me — I rolled down my window to ask them, 'What happen, why you hitting my car?' They threw all their food inside my car. Everything was littered. Gravy on my shirt, in my eyes. It took me almost three hours to clean the car inside," Butt raged.
