Brutal beating on Phila. concourse leaves man critical
A West Philadelphia man is in critical condition this morning after a brutal beating yesterday afternoon on an underground concourse in Center City, police said.
A West Philadelphia man is in critical condition this morning after a brutal beating yesterday afternoon on an underground concourse in Center City, police said.
No cameras captured images of the assault, which followed an argument at 3:25 p.m. near a stairway at 13th and Market Streets, said Richard Maloney, a SEPTA spokesman.
"The two men knew each other," Maloney said. "This was not a random attack." The fight was not on SEPTA property but occured on pedestrian concourse owned by the city, Maloney said.
A SEPTA officer heard the commotion, rushed to the scene, but was unable to capture the assailant.
Witnesses said an older man had stomped the 23-year-old victim numerous times in the head. Police are uncertain what prompted the beating, but a family member told detectives both men had appeared earlier in the day in Family Court.
The suspect is described as black, with a scruffy beard and close-cropped hair, lanky, about 6-foot-2 and 170 pounds. He was wearing an oversized white T-shirt, dark capri-style jeans and tan Timberland boots, police said.
The victim, whose name was not released, remained on a ventilator this morning at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
