A whacked-out maniac beat down a beloved 71-year-old doorman who blocked him from trespassing in a Manhattan constructing – because the kindly employee nonetheless politely known as him “sir” as he pleaded for his life.
Nicolaie Lica – referred to as “George” by residents of his constructing on West 88th Avenue – advised The Submit he was working within the foyer of the constructing round midnight March 8 when Moshe Dardashty, 29, strolled in and mentioned he needed to go to a seventh-floor condominium.
Lica – who had labored within the constructing since 1998 – initially directed Dardashty towards the elevator banks earlier than he acknowledged him as a person {that a} coworker had warned him was not welcome on the grounds.
“I ran after him. I met him in entrance of the elevator. I advised him, ‘Sir, I’m very, very sorry. I can’t allow you to go up,’” Lica mentioned in an interview from his house within the Bronx on Wednesday.
That set off the unhinged Dardashty, who yelled on the doorman.
“Instantly he jumped at me,” Lica mentioned. “I don’t know why. I attempted to go away from him however I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t get out of the constructing as a result of he was in entrance of me.”
The sufferer mentioned he tried to flee into the hallway at first – however then gave up and turned to face his attacker when he realized he couldn’t get away.
“He jumped at me, pushed me and I fell down,” Lica mentioned. “He picked up the steel ramp and threw it at me and it hit me on the left facet of my face round my left eye and the bone below the attention broke, and the nostril. After he threw the ramp he jumped on me. That’s how I feel he broke my vertebrae.
“After he hit me so many occasions I mentioned, ‘Cease, sir, it’s an excessive amount of,’” the aged sufferer recalled. “I known as for assist, ‘Assist me, assist me.’ No one heard me. I known as out to God, ‘Cease him, please, he desires to kill me.’”
Cops and prosecutors mentioned Dardashty additionally beat Lica with a brush, however the sufferer mentioned the attacker apparently tried to interrupt off a brush’s steel stick – and deserted the makeshift weapon when he failed.
Though the sufferer’s “face was stuffed with blood,” he managed to name the cops earlier than bystanders took the cellphone and spoke to police for him.
The sufferer was rushed to Mount Sinai West, the place he was handled and later launched however he stays bedridden and battered.
“I can’t open my left eye,” he mentioned. “I’m hoping in two, three days I can. I’ve ache in my facet, arm and again. I’ve issues with three vertebrae on the suitable facet and I can’t choose up a glass of water with my proper hand. I’ve to make use of my left hand.”
Lica’s spouse, Pauna Lica, 62, advised The Submit she is now her husband’s fixed caretaker, placing drops in his eye and giving him a number of medicines.
“Somebody requested my husband what number of punches he took,” Pauna Lica mentioned. “He mentioned, ‘I don’t know, however I feel it was 100.’ The man was sturdy, solely 29 years outdated. Possibly he was on medication or drunk, I don’t know.”
Dardashty, who lives simply blocks from the scene, was arrested minutes after the beatdown and was charged with assault and tried assault, in accordance with a legal grievance.
He was arraigned the following day and ordered held on $50,000 bail, the DA’s workplace mentioned.
Because the brutal assault, one of many constructing’s tenants of almost a decade, Constantin Schoelkopf, launched a GoFundMe web page to assist cowl Lica’s medical care and different bills.
“He’s a really sort and devoted doorman who’s the night time watchman, so to talk,” Schoelkopf mentioned. “He’s very sort, doesn’t converse English very effectively, however he’s all the time doing one thing, cleansing up. He’s very a lot there for the tenants.
“I felt horrible that he was simply doing his job when this deranged particular person beat him up so badly that he needed to go to the hospital.”
The battered doorman mentioned he’s grateful for the outpouring of help and care.
“It’s a troublesome time proper now,” he mentioned. “However I dwell with hope. All people from the constructing has been supportive. I’ve been very, very grateful.”
