- Kevon Johnson, 30, was arraigned on a third-degree assault charge on Monday as police claim he fatally hit Carlyle Thomas, 61, in the face at a gas station in Brooklyn
- His death was ruled as a homicide, but the suspect only faces an assault charge due to a law that only allows for charges relating to the punch to be brought
- Johnson was released without bail because statewide bail reforms in 2020 made the misdemeanor charge ineligible for bail, a law enforcement source said
A tow truck driver who is accused of fatally punching a 61-year-old man with a sucker punch in an argument over a $10 parking spot has been released from a New York City jail.
Kevon Johnson, 30, was arraigned on a third-degree assault charge on Monday as police claim he hit 61-year-old Carlyle Thomas in the face at a gas station in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
The man’s death was ruled a homicide, but the suspect faces an assault charge due to a law that only allows for charges relating to the punch to be brought as it isn’t possible to prove there was intent to cause death or serious harm.
Johnson was released without bail because statewide bail reforms in 2020 made the misdemeanor charge ineligible for bail, a law enforcement source told the New York Post.
The incident was sparked over a parking dispute at a Brownsville Shell gas station, and the suspect allegedly punched Thomas before he fatally struck his head on the pavement.
Surveillance video shows Thomas trying to stop his minivan from being towed from the gas station.
He opened the driver’s door and the tow truck driver punched him in the face just moments later.
The grandfather was sent tumbling to the ground from the force and smashed his head on the concrete floor.
His family said he lived next door and that he had an arrangement with the owner of the gas station to park there for $10 if he couldn’t find another spot.
Thomas’ fiancée Andrea Gooden insisted the owner could have called him if he needed to move the car but decided to call a tow truck instead.
She blamed both the owner of the gas station and the tow truck driver for her partner’s death.
‘He said, ‘I was mad with him, so I called the tow truck.’ So you’re mad with him and he loses his life?,’ Gooden told WABC.
‘He could have called him. He had his number. He could have called me because he called him at 2 in the morning to come downstairs and help his workers when someone was breaking into his stores. And he’d never tell him no.’
But a friend of Thomas said someone had called to warn him that a tow truck was called to impound his car.
‘He came running. He open the door of the tow truck and the guy punch him in the head! He go down and bam,’ the friend said.
‘Dead. He [died] right there in front of pump 6! He never [touched] the guy, only [touched] his door and the guy [came] out and [punched] him.
‘He’s a cool guy. Got a young son. Why they do that to him! One punch? Kill him?!’
Johnson was taken into custody before he was granted supervised release during his arraignment in court on Monday.
Thomas, a former horse racing jockey, is survived by his son, daughter, step-children and fiancée.
‘He’s verbally arguing with the tow truck guy and from what I hear next the guy hits him so hard he fell to the floor and his heart stopped,’ his step-daughter Andrele Peters said.
‘That hit was so hard to the floor he died here. He didn’t make it to the hospital and the hospital is three minutes away.’
While his other step-daughter Alexis Peters added: ‘He always tried to help them out any way he could.
‘And he did pay to park! But sometimes, you know, I mean they’re friends, so sometimes he paid after when he came back.
‘Why he got to die over $10? He’s short, he’s shorter than my sister here. He’s a little man, you got to punch him like that? You got to kill him over $10?!’
Thomas’ family said he did not deserve this and are calling for justice.
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