A rowdy mob pummeled a San Antonio Spurs fan and snatched his jersey in a viral caught-on-camera beatdown amid the mayhem that broke out in Midtown after Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
The 39-year-old Spurs fan was walking back to his hotel just after midnight on Tuesday when the large crew descended upon him outside 306 West 47th Street, according to the NYPD.
Video posted on social media showed a man in a Spurs jersey walking down the street and attempting to run as the angry mob surrounded him.
He was punched, kicked, and had his No. 21 Tim Duncan jersey torn off his back in the melee — as hordes of Knicks fanatics swarmed Midtown, some wreaking havoc, after Monday night’s squeaker loss in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
The Spurs fan appeared to try to fight back, but was forced to the ground and kicked repeatedly before trying to escape down a street as antagonizers chased at his heels, according to social media footage.
While running away, a member of the mob was seen kicking him to the ground, clips showed.
He suffered cuts to his face and bruising and was taken to Mount Sinai West Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
The NYPD released pictures of six separate people wanted in connection with the violent robbery.
Though none of the wanted individuals appeared to be pictured in Knicks merch, many fans clad in blue and orange were seen in the massive crowd closing in on the Spurs fan.
Some New Yorkers and Knicks faithful blasted the hooligans for the violence in subsequent videos shared online.
Police arrested 21 people overnight for offenses including assault on a police officer, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration after trying to control the thousands of people gathered outside a Bryant Park Knicks watch party.
In a separate assault, dozens of enraged Knicks fans surrounded a Spurs fan on the streets and tore apart his Victor Wembanyama jersey.
Five NYPD officers were injured in the fracas, with some ruffians chucking glass objects at each other and police officers, and ripping bus signs and trees out of the ground to throw them.
Rowdy fans also climbed scaffolding, light poles, police cars, and NYPD trucks, causing “significant damage,” police said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
