A brute caught-on-camera beating a Queens deli worker unconscious was nabbed this week — and he’d shaved off the green hair he sported during the vicious attack, authorities said.
Osvel Diaz, 29, was charged with attempted murder following his arrest Wednesday evening in the June 17 beatdown at Sunnyside Mini Market Deli in Woodside that left the 62-year-old employee with internal bleeding, cops said.
The career criminal didn’t say a word as two detectives escorted him out of the 108th Precinct station house in Long Island City Thursday morning, wearing a black T-shirt and gray sweatpants and with a freshly-shaved head.
The heavily-tattooed man – whose ink depicts skulls and a heart that appears to be adorned with the word “KILLER” in all caps – has 25 prior arrests, mostly for robbery, police said.
He was also charged with first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child, because a child was present when he was apprehended, according to cops and sources. The child was not hurt.
The deli attack unfolded at around 11:20 p.m. when Diaz, joined by another man, accidentally knocked into the worker – identified by a colleague as a Yemeni-American named Abdul – who was standing in front of the counter, police said.
Surveillance video showed the two exchanging words before the green-haired man turns around, gets in Abdul’s face and starts ruthlessly raining blows on his head, sending him crashing to the ground.
The attacker then throws the defenseless worker and starts kicking him in the face repeatedly, additional footage posted on social media shows.
One kick to Abdul’s face knocks him out cold — but the brute continues smashing his foot into the man’s bloodied face.
The assailant yelled something at others in the store before bolting.
The battered deli worker was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
A fellow employee who visited Abdul in the hospital Tuesday said the injured man looks unrecognizable.
The employee, who wished not to be named, told The Post last week he immediately thought “this is not Abdul,” because his friend’s face was severely swollen.
“Abdul lost all of his top teeth, has a broken nose and internal bleeding in his head,” said the employee.
Abdul, who doesn’t even remember the attack, had asked him “why is my face like this?” and “Someone robbed the store?”
The employee told The Post that he had seen the suspect around a few times and that he hangs out a block over around 65th Street.
Diaz’s most recent bust before this one was for a broad-daylight assault of a UPS driver on Sept. 1, 2023 in Astoria, according to a complaint filed in Queens Criminal Court.
He is accused of throwing a metal canister at the driver’s side window of the truck – shattering it – before getting out and bashing the motorist in the head with the container, according to the court doc.
Diaz pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was granted a conditional discharge in that case, according to the Queens DA’s Office.
He was required to complete six days of an anger management course as part of the plea agreement, prosecutors said.
