NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A career criminal was arrested in the fatal sucker-punch mugging of a man outside a Dyker Heights deli late last month, police said Tuesday.
Philip Meyers, 45, of Dyker Heights, was arrested Monday and charged with murder and robbery in the March 29 killing of John Sarquiz, 55, who lived just blocks from him.
Meyers reportedly has a long rap sheet stretching back to the 1990s, including for manslaughter in connection with a 1999 homicide in Brooklyn. He was in state prison from 2001 to 2009 before his release on parole.
He's known as the "local bully" in the area, according to the Daily News.
Sarquiz was attacked in front of a deli at 73rd Street and 13th Avenue, about a block from his home on 74th Street.
NYPD officers responding to a 911 call around 8 p.m. that night found him lying in front of the deli unresponsive with head trauma, police said.
He was rushed to a hospital but ultimately removed from life support five days later.
Investigators believe Sarquiz was standing outside the deli when he was punched from behind, causing him to fall to the ground and strike his head.
His attacker continued to kick him as he was on the ground before stealing his money and jewelry, his grieving sister Christina Sarquiz previously told the New York Post.
Sarquiz said her brother took care of their mother ever since their father died in 2014. "We’re completely devastated," Sarquiz said of her mom and two sisters.
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