Bronx DA now wants to upgrade charges for ‘gloved beast’ who sucker-punched man to attempted murder
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Prosecutors who downgraded charges against a convicted sex offender after he allegedly sucker punched a man in an unprovoked attack are now demanding they be upgraded.
Jesus Cortes, 52, was left with a fractured skull and a brain bleed after the attack by Van Phu Bui, 55, in the Bronx on August 12.
Bui was initially freed without bail by prosecutors who reduced his charges to a misdemeanor after the terrifying assault was caught on video.
They claimed that the evidence would only allow the misdemeanor charges at the time, despite police issuing the surveillance footage.
However he was then thrown in jail after New York Governor Kathy Hochul urged prosecutors to upgrade charges against him.
She claimed that the attack and arrest was a violation of his lifetime parole for the sex conviction.
Now Bronx District Attorney’s Office are asking a grand jury to upgrade his charges to a felony of attempted murder.
Van Phu Bui, 55, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, but the DA later filed misdemeanor charges. He has now whined that he shouldn’t be in jail because Jesus Cortes survived the attack
Jesus Cortes, 52, (left) suffered a a fractured skull and a brain bleed after the attack by Van Phu Bui, 55, (right) earlier this year
It would mean that Bui would remain behind bars and any prison time, if he were to be convicted, could be increased.
Bui appeared in court yesterday, with the DA telling the judge that they wanted to ask a grand jury to increase the charges against him, according to the New York Post.
It is not clear exactly what the charges would be, or how many felonies Bui could face.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, a spokeswoman for the DA’s office said: ‘He is currently charged with misdemeanor assault.
‘The case is in the grand jury which could indict him on a felony.’
Bui is declining to testify, and a grand jury is understood to be considering the new upgraded charges against him.
Casey Trimbl, of the Legal Aid Society, is representing Bui and is opposing prosecutors’ request to amend the protection order for the victim.
Prosecutors want to ban him from being able to speak to Cortes’ family, who live in the same neighbourhood.
Judge Srividya Pappachan left the order of protection in place solely for Cortes, with his brother Juan crying in court as he heard the decision.
Horrifying surveillance video captures the moment Bui put on a pair of gloves and swung with great force, hitting the victim in the back of the head.
He then immediately falls to the floor, appearing to be unconscious, banging his head on the concrete after the sudden attack.
The NYPD claim that he ‘without prior conversation or altercation’ punched the victim in the face, before ‘returning back into the restaurant and later to parts unknown’.
Bui was convicted of attempted robbery in 1991 and is a registered sex offender – who was out on parole after being convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl at gunpoint on December 24, 1994. He was released from prison in March 2019
He was allowed to walk straight out of Bronx Criminal Court on supervised release without bail, after appearing before a judge where he was arraigned on third-degree assault, and second-degree harassment
Bui whined to the New York Post that he couldn’t remember anything about the attack, saying he ‘blacked out.’
He said: ‘He’s alive. He’s not dead. I thank God he survived. I didn’t want to hurt him that bad. I just hit him once.
‘I can’t really remember anything. I was so mad,.I’ve never done anything like that before. That was my first time.
‘I’m not a violent person. I’m not like that. I wouldn’t do it again. I’m sorry. I know I did something wrong. That’s why I turned myself in.
‘The judge told me don’t talk to him and stay away from him but If I could see him, I’d apologize and tell him I’m sorry. If he wants me to pay the medical, I don’t mind paying his medical (bills).’
Bui was called an ‘imminent threat to the community’ at a parole hearing Saturday after New York Governor Kathy Hochul had ordered him back in jail.
His parole officer, Nixa Rivera, spoke at his hearing: ‘Mr. Bui is a 55-year-old male with a persistent violent felony offender history.
‘Mr. Bui is a registered level three sex offender, the highest level on the sexual offender registry. Mr. Bui continues to be an imminent threat to the community.’
Rivera added that Bui has been living in a shelter for six years and has no apparent family or ties to the community.
His only job has been working the cash register at a nail salon for the past two years.
Shortly before the attack Bui positions himself behind his victim, before raining down a vicious blow in front of a group of other people outside of the restaurant
Bui was called an ‘imminent threat to the community’ at a parole hearing Saturday after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered him back in jail
Cortes’s brother Juan Cortes told DailyMail.com that his brother is recovering and has been taken off a ventilator
Juan Cortes called Bui an ‘evil person’ and said the felony charges should’ve been there from the start.
Court records obtained by DailyMail.com indicate the lesser charges were laid because Bui ‘intentionally (caused) physical injury and with intent to harass, annoy or alarm another person.’
Bui was convicted of attempted robbery in 1991 and is a registered sex offender – who was out on parole after being convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl at gunpoint on Christmas Eve, 1994. He was released from prison in March 2019
In horrifying footage released by the NYPD, Bui is seen walking out of the Fuego Tipico restaurant in the Bronx and pulling on a pair of gloves.
He is then seen punching the victim with great force in the back of the head. The victim was found unconscious and unresponsive on the ground after the unprovoked attack and was rushed to the hospital.
In a conversation with Bui’s parole officer, documented by the court, he recounts the incident: ‘I’m in trouble. I hit someone and he’s in the hospital.
‘I don’t know if he’s dead. The police are looking for me. I was at the restaurant and I know the police are looking for me.’