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Viral video shows two men brutally beating Brooklyn man over shared driveway

Video showed that the attackers wielded a wooden bat and did not hold back their fists during the beatdown

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY: A Brooklyn homeowner was brutally pummeled by two men over a shared driveway in broad daylight.

The attackers wielded a wooden bat and did not hold back their fists during the beatdown. They subsequently taunted the victim's pregnant wife as she recorded the ordeal on her phone, the NYPD said. The victim, 39, escaped severe injury, but he and his wife told the New York Daily News how the August 17 assault had left them traumatized to leave their Midwood residence.

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“It’s over a parking spot,” the victim’s wife told the Daily News on condition of anonymity. “I own a house in Brighton Beach. We share a driveway. I own 75% and they (the next-door neighbors) own 25%.” According to the wife, the next-door neighbors had threatened the couple as well as their tenant after she and her husband "asked nicely" to share the driveway. “He threatens to burn our house down,” she alleged. The couple said they are terrified of going out and being targeted again.

The incident took place at 7.20 am as the victim was walking along E. 15th St. near Kings Highway, not far from his residence. Two men attacked him while a third man watched, per the video. The victim said he recognized one of the attackers as his Brighton Beach neighbor after pulling down his mask. “One hit me from behind with a baseball bat. The other kicked and beat me,” he explained.

When his wife took out her phone and began filming the assault, their Brighton Beach neighbor allegedly taunted her to go ahead and "take the picture" before fleeing the scene. The husband sustained bruises on his body and cuts to his back, knees, and elbows. Responding paramedics treated him at the scene.

According to the Daily News, the victim is a stay-at-home dad to a toddler daughter. He and his wife, who works as a manager for a trucking company, rent out their Brighton Beach property. “They were waiting for him,” the victim’s wife alleged. “I don’t know how they found us.” The attacker with the bat dropped his phone at some point during the assault. When the third man watching the beating asked for it, the victim gave the phone to the police instead. Video from the assault was released on Monday as the authorities solicited the public's help in identifying the perpetrators.

“How do they (the cops) not know who he is?” the victim asked. “We’re afraid to go outside. We’re afraid to shop or work.” The victim's wife, who is reportedly nine months pregnant, said she has been paranoid ever since the attack. “When I went to Chinatown in Brooklyn Saturday, someone opened my bag and took my wallet. I don’t know if someone is following me 24 hours a day. I’m terrified,” she said, adding, “I’m losing my mind.”

Anyone with information related to the attackers is urged to contact the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. The Big Apple has witnessed a major uptick in violent crime this year. In July, MEAWW reported how the New York Police Department posted a disturbing video on Twitter in which a man was seen punching and stomping another man's head in broad daylight in New York City, knocking the victim unconscious and robbing him.

“These are NYC streets! What used to be the safest big city sent back to the days of high crime due to failed laws that allow no consequences and embolden criminals,” the Detectives’ Endowment Association tweeted at the time. “Politicians in Albany and City Hall need to step up now to fix their mistakes and keep New Yorkers safe.”