'I had no defense at all': Victim of knockout game describes the moment he was attacked on New York street
- Kyle Rogers, 23, was attacked at 2:30am Sunday after leaving a Lower East Side bar
- The last thing he remembers before waking up in an ambulance is putting on his jacket to leave
- He was left with a broken jaw, which doctors had to wire shut, and multiple facial lacerations
- Police have no suspects in the case and are asking the public for help finding the attacker
By Ryan Gorman
|
A man knocked unconscious after being randomly punched in the head early Sunday morning claims he was a victim of the knockout game.
Kyle Rogers, 23, of Rockvile Centre, was punched in the back of the head while walking down the Bowery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and surveillance video back up his claims.
Footage made public by the New York Police Department shows a man walking up behind Rogers and sucker punching him while another films the attack that left him with a broken jaw.
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Knocked out: Kyle Rogers was left unconscious on a Manhattan sidewalk after the early Sunday attack
‘I had no defense at all,' Rogers told WABC through his wired-shut mouth.
‘It’s one thing if he was looking me in the face, like squaring up, but, come on, from behind? It’s like a coward move,' he additionally told WCBS.
The suspect is described as a black male in his 20s, authorities admit they have little leads and are asking for the public’s help.
Rogers said he had just left a bar on Spring Street and was walking north on Bowery when attacked.
‘Putting on my jacket at the one bar, that’s the last thing I remember,’ Rogers told WCBS. He was in an ambulance when he woke up.
He landed face first on the sidewalk, causing the broken jaw and a couple of facial lacerations.
Caught on camera: Rogers' attacker can be seen rushing up behind him and punching the back of his head
Moment of impact: Rogers doesn't remember being punched, but does remember waking up in an ambulance
‘I guess when I fell and hit the ground, I split this open, my eyebrow, and my chin from the punch,’ he told WCBS.
The knockout game has become controversial after going viral last year. It involves people approaching other from behind and punching them in the head 'for fun'.
No money or valuables are stolen in the attacks, people just hurt random strangers seemingly for sport.
‘I live in this neighborhood and people can be crazy, but it doesn’t make me nervous to be out and about,’ one person told WCBS.
Another person chalked it up to the dangers of living in a densely populated city.
Wired shut: Rogers is barely able to speak after the attack forced doctor to wire his broken jaw shut
‘It’s the middle of the city, there are crazy people running around everywhere, and when you’re walking around late at night, you just have to keep your head on a swivel and keep an eye on your surroundings,’ said another.
Similar attacks have been happening across the city in recent months, and Rogers’ father is pleading with people to bring them to an end.
‘I just want these kids to stop,’ Michael Rogers told WCBS. ‘I want them to understand that it’s not a game. That’s the whole thing. They call it a game, and it’s not a game.
‘People get hurt real bad.’
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JimB, Carmel, 1 hour ago
The thugs don't think of it as a game. They know that it is assault and battery. They just call it a "game' so that the media will portray it as a teen thing. The thugs know that they have the justice system, media, and bleeding hearts wrapped around their fingers.