This newly-released surveillance video shows the man whom investigators say started a fight at the Bedford Avenue L station Friday night that ended in the death of Howard Beach resident Joshua Basin. The suspect seen in this video does not exactly resemble the police sketch released over the weekend, which depicted a man with what investigators said was longish dirty blond hair, but this man does appear to have pockmarks on the right side of his face.
The suspect is described as a white male between the ages of 30-35, with a thin build, light complexion, and dirty blond hair with pockmarks on the right side of his face. Witnesses say he was wearing brown pants, black rain jacket and black sneakers. According to witnesses, the suspect was drunk and belligerent. Police say he eventually singled out Basin for no apparent reason, then said, "It's showtime" before starting to punch him.
During the fight, the two men ended up down on the subway tracks. The alleged assailant was able to climb back up and flee the scene, but Basin couldn't get out of the tracks in time. He was struck by another Manhattan-bound L train and pinned against the platform; he was later pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.
Strangely, a Facebook post earlier in this month featured a photo of Basin on a subway platform, posing for the camera inches from a rushing subway train. “It looks like I almost got hit by the train,” Basin remarked on Facebook, adding, "We would've been on the 10 o'clock news with a headline like 'Two Drunks Caught By Train' lol lmao."
