NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Brooklyn man died over the weekend after a tow truck driver punched him in the face during a parking dispute, according to police.
Police responded to a 911 call on Saturday around 8:45 p.m. outside the Shell station on Clarkson Avenue, near Rockaway Parkway, in East Flatbush.
Officers learned that two men were involved in a parking dispute.
The argument became physical when Kevon M. Johnson, 30, punched the victim, Carlyle Thomas, 61, in the face causing him to fall over and hit the pavement, police said.
According to the Daily News, Thomas saw his Honda Odyssey attached to a tow truck and tried to prevent his car from being impounded and confronted Johnson.
Thomas lived near the Shell station and would occasionally hang out there, according to the report.
"We thought the gas station guys and him were cool because he was in there helping and unpacking with them," Thomas' nephew Dominic Graham, 37, told the Daily News. "We didn't think they'd ever call a tow truck and do that."
EMS arrived and transported Thomas to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead around 9:15 p.m.
Johnson was taken into custody, and the investigation remains ongoing.
