Brooklyn man dies after being punched by tow truck driver impounding his car
A Brooklyn man trying to prevent his car from being impounded died after he was punched in the face by the tow truck driver he confronted, cops said Sunday.
The death of 61-year-old Carlyle Thomas at the hands of a man half his age has been classified as a homicide by the NYPD — and the victim’s devastated family said he died over a $10 parking fee at a gas station where he regularly helped out.
Thomas lived down the block from the Shell station on Clarkson Ave. near Rockaway Parkway in East Flatbush where he hung out, sometimes pitched in working for free and often left his car, his family said.
“We thought the gas station guys and him were cool because he was in there helping and unpacking with them,” said the victim’s nephew Dominic Graham, 37. “We didn’t think they’d ever call a tow truck and do that.”
About 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, Thomas saw his Honda Odyssey being hooked to a tow truck and confronted the driver, according to cops and his family.
As the argument escalated, the 30-year-old tow truck driver punched Thomas in the face, causing him to fall and hit the pavement, police said.
Medics took Thomas to Brookdale University Hospital, but he couldn’t be saved.
Cops took the tow truck driver into custody with charges pending as they investigate further.
The gas station charges local residents $10 to park overnight if they can’t find onstreet parking, the victim’s family says.
“He came around and was enjoying the nice weather yesterday,” Thomas’ stepdaughter Andrele Peters said. “I guess he didn’t pay the $10. He lived here a long time and has a relationship with them. He didn’t pay right away, but they do have his contact and my mom’s contact.”
“Once they called the tow truck they gave him a call like, ‘Hey, your car is being towed,’ ” she added. “He runs downstairs to see what’s going on and his car is on top of the tow truck. He’s verbally arguing with the tow truck guy and what I heard next, the guy hits him so hard he fell to the floor and his heart stopped.”
Thomas, a former jockey in his native Jamaica, worked training and feeding horses at the Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, his family said.
“He was like the neighborhood boss. He knows everyone and chills out with everyone,” Graham, his nephew, said. “There was never a problem with anyone.”
Stepdaughter Peters pointed out that Thomas was such a regular presence in the gas station most of his social media photos were taken there.
“He’s really a good guy. What hurts to know is that he spent so much time supporting this gas station,” she said. “He always tries to help them out. To call the tow truck and not call the person first, it doesn’t make sense.”
Another stepdaughter, Alexis Peters, questioned why the tow truck driver didn’t simply call the police.
“There’s steps you can take, you didn’t have to physically punch him,” she said.
One pal, Errol Potinter, said Thomas had previous run-ins with tow truck drivers at the gas station.
“It’s just unnecessary,” he said. “He’s jovial, easygoing. not really a troublemaker.”
The Shell station parking lot was also the scene of a horrific screwdriver stabbing on July 24, 2022.
A shirtless drunken man passed out in the parking lot woke up and confronted a man pushing a Citi Bike, according to a witness. When the 47-year-old shirtless man insisted the bicyclist had taken something from him and demanded it back, the other man whipped out a screwdriver and stabbed him. The victim suffered two collapsed lungs.
