NEW YORK, NY – Police are investigating a brutal attack on a homeless man by multiple individuals inside the Taft Houses in Midtown Manhattan near Central Park as a homicide after a lengthy investigation.
The attack took place on May 24, 2022, at around midnight inside the Taft Houses NYCHA project. The NYPD received multiple calls regarding an assault in progress against a homeless man by multiple individuals.
When police arrived, they found 66-year-old Edgardo Rodriguez, a homeless man with severe trauma across his body and face. At the time, he was conscious and alert. Police treated him at the scene with FDNY EMS, and he was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Harlem in stable condition.
He has later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital for more tests and treatment.
Three months later, Rodriguez died in the hospital. He was pronounced dead on August 18th.
Police determined that an unknown group of males approached the victim and began physically assaulting him for an unknown reason before fleeing the location on foot in an unknown direction.
Today, police have ruled his death a homicide based on evidence from the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office after an autopsy was conducted.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.