Plattekill man beaten half to death and left on the street

Plattekill man beaten half to death and left on the street, police said.Officers arrived about 1 a.m. Sunday to Hasbrouck Street and found the 23-year-old man bludgeoned, stabbed and sliced. He had multiple punctures in his torso and a deep gash on the top of his head, police said.He went to the Newburgh campus of St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital where staff discovered his arm and leg were broken. His condition was serious.Three witnesses helped officers track the attackers, police said. A 20-year-old woman told police she watched four of the assailants drive away in a Jeep Cherokee. She followed in another vehicle and called police. When officers stopped a Jeep on Johnes Street, she and a 22-year-old man came and identified suspects.Police arrested the four occupants: 30-year-old Lucio Ramirez, 16-year-old Edgardo Perez and two 15-year-old boys.The 22-year-old witness told officers the four were part of 10 or so who beat the man with a bat and hacked at him with a machete. A third witness said the man had been sitting with him on some steps when the men attacked. That witness said he ran when one of the attackers pointed a gun at him. He heard one shot as he fled but wasn't hit.Police said they found a bloody baseball bat in the Jeep after arresting the four.The suspects face felony gang assault charges — a charge that relates to the number of attackers rather than any affiliation to a street gang.Ramirez and Perez were being held at Orange County Jail; Ramirez in lieu of $25,000 bail and Perez in lieu of $20,000. The two juveniles were released to their parents pending a Sept. 18 appearance in Family Court.

Posted in: Orange County Jail