NYC sucker punch suspect arrested in brutal caught-on-video knockout is a convicted sex offender: report
Van Phu Bui, a convicted sex offender, charged with attempted murder of Jesus Cortes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The suspect in a brutal New York City sucker punch attack caught on video is a convicted sex offender, according to reports.
Van Phu Bui, a 55-year-old parolee who lives at a shelter and works as a security guard, was arrested and charged Wednesday with attempted murder in the attack on 52-year-old Jesus Cortes.
Just hours before the arrest, the New York City Police Department released a video showing the Aug. 12 assault that unfolded at approximately 10:45 p.m. in front of 163 E 188 St in the Bronx.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The suspect is seen putting on work gloves before approaching Cortes, a total stranger standing outside with a group of men and women after leaving dinner at Fuego Tipico restaurant.
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NYPD released video of an Aug. 12 unprovoked assault that unfolded at approximately 10:45 p.m. in front of 163 E 188 St in the Bronx. (NYPD)
From behind, Bui allegedly delivers a hard blow to Cortes’ head, lying him out on the concrete. Police said the two had no interaction beforehand and that there’s no indication the alleged attacker and victim knew each other.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Upon learning of Bui’s past criminal record, Cortes’ siblings expressed outrage that their brother’s attacker was out on the streets in the first place.
"That kind of person shouldn’t be out on the street," Veronica Cortes, 50, told N.Y. Daily News. "I felt helplessness and anger and sadness because that person who did the damage does not know the damage he did to the whole family."
The New York Post reported that Bui convicted of first-degree sex abuse in the Bronx in 1995 and was sentenced to six years to life in prison. State records indicate that he was paroled in 2019 and is now registered as a Level 3 sex offender — the most serious designation — for sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl in 1994. Citing police sources, the outlet reported that Bui was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and robbery in New York City back in the 1990s.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NYC sucker punch assault suspect is a convicted sex offender. (NYPD)
The brutal sucker punch attack left Cortes with a skull fracture, broken cheek and brain bleeding, police said. He remains hospitalized at Jacobi Medical Center in critical but stable condition, and his siblings told media outlets that his head remains severely swollen, and they expect a long recovery ahead.
Cortes is well known in his community for founding a Mexican cultural nonprofit group with his brother and teaching Mexican folkloric dancing, according to N.Y. Daily News. He is one of seven siblings.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bui lives about four blocks from the restaurant at the Help USA men’s shelter and works as a security guard, N.Y. Daily News reported.