NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A man accused of punching out a stranger on a Bronx street was taken back into custody on Friday for breaking the terms of his lifetime parole at Gov. Kathy Hochul's nudge after he was released without bail.
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Bui Van Phu, 55, was arrested after state officials contacted the Bronx District Attorney's Office to "talk about the actual charges that were filed" and "make sure that our laws are being properly executed," Hochul said Friday during an unrelated news conference on Long Island, the New York Post reported.
"I took action in my own hands," she added.
After Van Phu was initially booked on an attempted murder charge Wednesday, the district attorney's office downgraded the charge to misdemeanor assault on Thursday, forcing his release.
"I directed the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to immediately examine whether or not this parole violation occurred," Hochul said. "Yes, it did. You could tell it occurred."
A registered Level 3 sex offender, the 55-year-old is on lifetime parole for a 1995 Bronx sexual assault.
"This is a person on lifetime parole, and as of minutes ago, that person is now in custody," Hochul added. "That is at my direction."
Police believe Van Phu is the man seen punching Jesus Cortes, 52, from behind outside the Fuego Típico Restaurant at E. 188th Street and the Grand Concourse in Fordham Manor last Friday night.
Video shows Cortes being followed out of the restaurant by another man, who puts on a pair of gloves, positions himself behind Cortes and punches him in the face.
Cortes and his attacker had no conversation or altercation before the assault, according to police.
Cortes suffered a fractured skull, a broken cheekbone and bleeding on his brain. He remained in critical but stable condition at EMS to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi on Friday.
The victim is reportedly in a coma. His niece told the Daily News, “He’s in a bed. We don’t know when is he gonna be, if he’s gonna be back OK, if he’s gonna wake up. ... They say days, weeks, months. We don’t know.”
Van Phu allegedly confessed to the crime, telling his parole officer, “I hit someone and he's in the hospital. I don’t know if he’s dead,” according to a complaint obtained by the Post.
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