Crime & Safety

Witness Heard 'Loud Thud' During 18th Street Robbery-Homicide

A witness, who was walking along 18th Street on Wed. night, said the suspect was dressed like a runner, wearing all black and told her "Don't look over here, go away."

A witness of the 18th Street robbery-homicide on Jan. 9, a Park Slope resident who asked to be anonymous to protect her identity, said she walked right past the suspect and victim before the attack at around 7:15 p.m.

The woman, who was walking on 18th Street from Fifth Avenue towards Sixth Avenue, said she didn’t think anything of the two men on the sidewalk until she heard a sound she had never heard before.

“I heard a loud thud, turned around and saw that a man dropped the gentleman to the ground and he hit his head [on the pavement] and there was a lot of blood,” the witness said in an interview with Patch. “The robber then riffled through the man’s things for his watch and wallet.”

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As she was standing nearby, she said she froze up.

The robbery-homicide left Jesus Morales, a Long Island resident visiting South Slope to buy a car, dead. However, the suspect is still at large.

Find out what's happening in Park Slopewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Then the [robber] saw me looking at him and said, ‘Don’t look over here, get out of here,’” she said.

She crossed the street, panicked, and was walking to a bodega to get to safety when the crook, dressed in a tight-fitting black shirt, black knitted hat and black track pants, sprinted towards Sixth Avenue.

She said the robber, who she described as a black man standing about 5-foot-10, was dressed like a runner, wearing tight black nylon clothing, and also had a “runner’s body,” with a tight, fit and thin build. 

She doesn’t think he had a mask, but other witnesses, according to a police source in the 72nd Precinct, said the attacker was wearing a black mask during the attack.

After someone called 9-1-1 and the police arrived, the witness went back to the scene where first two policemen and then the EMS tried to revive the man lying on the ground, with a pool of blood around his head on the sidewalk.

“It was not looking good,” the witness said. “I didn’t have a good feeling.”

The witness said that the attack happened while her back was turned, and the only reason why she turned around was because of that sound.

“I didn’t hear any fight, or any voices,” she explained, “just this big loud thud.”

As she looked on in horror the crook didn’t make eye contact with her but knew she was watching him.

When he told her to go away she noticed he did not have an accent of any kind.

After the police arrived, the witness, along with a few others, cooperated with the cops and told them everything they saw and heard.

Now, a bit shaken from the crime, she is relieved that she didn’t become a victim after witnessing the murder.  

“I’m lucky, I am surprised he didn’t do anything to me since I saw him [commit a crime],” she said. “But he just ran the hell out of there.”

The police are still investigating and no arrests have been made.

To read more about the crime, click here. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto Crime Stoppers' website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.


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