A 65-year-old Brooklyn man is dead after a violent and seemingly random attack near the Jay Street-MetroTech subway station — and the suspect told police he lashed out simply because he didn’t like how the victim looked at him.
David Mazariegos, 25, was arrested and charged with murder after allegedly beating Nicola Tanzi to death in broad daylight on Tuesday. According to police sources, the attack was shockingly brutal and completely unprovoked.
Tanzi, a longtime Brooklyn resident who worked in security and was planning to retire next year, had reportedly held a subway gate open for Mazariegos — a small act of kindness that apparently set the attacker off.
The violence that followed was horrific. Mazariegos allegedly punched Tanzi repeatedly, stomped on his head as many as 15 times, and then took his wallet and ID before leaving him unconscious on the street. Tanzi later died at a nearby hospital.
When asked by reporters why he did it, Mazariegos reportedly shouted a bizarre answer outside the courtroom: “Why’d you take my planet?”
Police say Mazariegos has a long history of arrests — at least 33 prior incidents — ranging from fare evasion and graffiti to more serious outbursts of violence. He was already wanted on a warrant for allegedly stealing from a deli tip jar just two weeks earlier.
Hours after the fatal beating, he was spotted in Times Square carrying a samurai sword. Bodycam footage shows NYPD officers arresting him inside a store after an alert went out to all officers across the city. He was reportedly laughing as he was taken into custody.
A street photographer who witnessed the arrest described the scene as surreal: “Even before I knew what he had done, I could tell something wasn’t right,” he said. “There was just this look in his eyes.”
Authorities say Mazariegos was wearing a white Tyvek jumpsuit when he was brought into Manhattan Criminal Court to face charges for both the murder and his previous cases. He was also found carrying nunchucks and told police he bought the sword in Chinatown.
Outside court, he rambled about his ancestors, made cryptic references to medicine, and questioned how many bodies were buried under the courthouse — all while grinning at cameras.
Friends and neighbors of Nicola Tanzi are heartbroken. The Italian-born man had lived in Bensonhurst for over 20 years, served as an usher at his local Catholic church, and was known for stopping in at local businesses for coffee and friendly conversation.
“We lost a good friend,” said Carmina Racaro, who owns a flower shop near Tanzi’s apartment. “He was a really good guy. Always kind, always smiling.”
As the investigation continues, the NYPD is facing renewed pressure over the city’s recidivism crisis — and how someone with such a long rap sheet was back on the streets.
And people say demons do not exist .
I hope American women across the country don’t set up GoFund me accounts for this pos just because they think he’s cute.
Why dident the cops riddle this piece dirty filthy stinkimg piece shit with bullets i would have saved the state feeding this dirty filthy pice of feral garbage if i was the judge i would order his execution with a firing sqaud using dumb dumd bullets leave his rotten carcase for the rats to feed on
No plea of ‘Diminished Capacity’; Git A Rope!
Another dysfunctional black roaming the streets when he should be in a mental criminal facility