A Chinese good samaritan has died after being stabbed whilst he tried to stop a robbery in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Yong Zheng, 46, was celebrating the lantern festival on Friday when he saw an Asian man being viciously attacked and robbed outside an illegal gambling den.
Zheng attempted to intervene to end the fight but was fatally stabbed by William Smith, 45. Three other men were also stabbed.
“He heard a robbery – he didn’t know what was going on. He saw a crime, he tried to stop it,” Zheng’s widow Jin Zhao said.
Zheng was a bus driver in Chinatown. He is survived by his 39-year-old wife, 4-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old boy.
“They need to be punished – not my godbrother. He’s a good person,” said Zheng’s god sister Xiu Lin.
Smith was arrested on Sunday after police tracked his car, which was caught on camera as he tried to flee the scene. He faces charges of murder, robbery, and three counts of assault.
The attacker was previously convicted of manslaughter for a 1996 death and served 10 years in prison but was released on parole. Smith also has four other arrests including at least one for weapons possession, driving while intoxicated in 2010, and drugs sales in 2007.
The Fukian community is now raising funds for the family.
In other news, an Asian man stabbed in an unprovoked attack in Chinatown, Manhattan.
