Blue State Blues: Man Dies After Being Assaulted in Back of Ride-Hail Car in Brooklyn by Men on Street, NYPD Says
22nd January 2025
A man died in Brooklyn on Tuesday evening after police say he was beaten and robbed in the back of a ride-hail car by two men who got into the car at an intersection.
Michael Shelonchik, 53, was sitting in the back of the vehicle around 6:15 p.m. at the intersection of West 5th Street and Neptune Avenue in Coney Island when the men opened the door, began assaulting him and snatched a chain off his neck, NYPD officials said on Wednesday.
The driver tried to drive away from the perpetrators but only made it a few blocks before Shelonchik lost consciousness, police said. First responders were called and took him to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died.
NYPD officials said it was still unclear whether Shelonchik knew the suspects, and police made no immediate arrests. The NYPD was investigating the case early Wednesday as a potentially suspicious death, while Shelonchik’s cause of death was being determined.
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