A typical strip mall parking lot by day became the scene of a violent nighttime attack according to the Bridgeport Police Department.
Police said three men assaulted and robbed a homeless man off Park Avenue last week.
Investigators found video footage of the incident on nearby surveillance cameras.
The video shows three people trailing Jeffrey Blake, 33, as he quickens his pace after noticing he had three men following him. Soon he starts running, then video shows him being kicked and pummeled.
“When police arrived, he was bleeding from the head, he was conscious alert, talking,” said Bill Kaempffer, spokesman for Bridgeport Police. “These three individuals attacked a person with no reason whatsoever.”
Police said Blake is homeless and his attackers got away with his backpack, which held clothes and a cell phone inside.
“I work right here, so it was sad to find out about this guy. Very sad,” said Cruz Dumeng, who lives in the area.
Investigators hope the video of the beating tugs at people’s heartstrings and help them make arrests.
“The video is very clear. In the couple of splices, it shows — people will know who they are. We’re asking the community to come forward,” said Kaempffer.
Some Bridgeport residents have doubt that others will want to get involved
“We’re not safe out here. They’re not going to come out and protect us after we say what we know so we prefer to keep it quiet and let the police investigate what you need to investigate,” said Rosa Hernandez, a Bridgeport resident.
Police stress that they need the public to look long and hard at the video they compiled from various cameras in the area.
“We can’t do this alone,” said Kaempffer. “At the end of the day, somebody knows who these people are and this guy, as I said, was attacked without provocation. So we need to find out who these people are and we need to hold them accountable.”
Police are asking anyone with information to call Detective Art Calvao at 203-581-5240 or Detective Sean Ronan at 203-581-5231.