Nov. 14, 2024 By Bill Parry
A New Jersey man died eight days after he was beaten by a mob in Woodside near a nightclub that hosted a Halloween party.
Police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria responded to a 911 call reporting an assault in progress in front of an automotive service center at 32-40 57th St. at 3 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 1.
Upon arrival, officers were informed that a 29-year-old man had been assaulted by several strangers, and during the attack, one of his assailants smashed a glass bottle over the victim’s head, causing lacerations to his head and ear.
His attackers ran off, traveling eastbound on Northern Boulevard toward the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. EMS responded to the crime scene and rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Saturday, Nov. 9.
He was identified as Victor Luis Cáceres of Budd Lake, New Jersey, police said Wednesday. The 29-year-old self-employed audio and recording engineer worked with several famous rap stars, including Lil Wayne, according to his obituary.
Cáceres suffered the fatal blow in front of the Koeppel Subaru Service Center, which is steps away from La Boom Night Club. An NYPD spokesman would not say if Cáceres or his attackers were among the Halloween revelers at the Latin dance hot spot that night. There are no arrests, and the homicide investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding the fatal attack is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Through Nov. 10, the 114th Precinct has reported one murder so far in 2024, six fewer than the seven reported at the same point last year, a decline of 85.7%, according to the most recent CompStat report. Felony assaults are on the rise in the precinct, with 506 reported so far this year, 66 more than the 440 reported at the same point in 2023, an increase of 15%, according to CompStat.