Detectives picked up a Lower East Side man on Monday who allegedly swung a fatal fist at a 60-year-old man on an East Village street during a fight last month.
Anthony LaRocca, 19, of Allen Street faces assault charges in connection with the Feb. 10 attack that claimed the life of Anthony Fabriani, 60, of Brigham Street in Brooklyn.
Additional charges against LaRocca are pending the results of the ongoing investigation, sources familiar with the case said.
Law enforcement sources said that LaRocca and Fabriani got into a verbal dispute for unknown reasons at the corner of 1st Avenue near 12th Street at about 2:51 p.m. on Feb. 10.
The words turned physical, authorities noted, when LaRocca allegedly punched Fabriani in the left eye. Police said the blow caused Fabriani to fall to the sidewalk and strike his head on the concrete, rendering him semi-conscious.
After swinging his fist, cops said, LaRocca allegedly fled from the scene northbound along 1st Avenue before turning westbound on East 14th Street.
Officers from the 9th Precinct responded to the incident. EMS units brought Fabriani to Bellevue Hospital with a fractured skull, a broken eye socket and swelling of the brain.
Fabriani died on Feb. 23 from the injuries he sustained in the attack, police said. Detectives then classified his death as a homicide.
