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Suspect in Queens bodega worker’s brutal assault cuffed after police standoff

Man cuffed for beating Queens bodega worker
Detectives escorted a handcuffed Osvel Diaz out of the 108th Precinct in Long Island City, Queens on Thursday morning
Photo by Dean Moses

The green-haired brute accused of mercilessly beating a Queens bodega worker to a bloody pulp earlier this month was arrested Wednesday after a standoff with police, authorities said.

Osvel Diaz, 29, of Forest Hills attempted to shave his distinctive green hair to evade law enforcement after the senseless June 17 attack, according to police.

Diaz is accused of the disturbing attack, which was caught on camera, inside of the Sunnyside Mini Market, located at 63-20 Broadway in Woodside, at about 11:30 p.m. on June 17.

Cops say Diaz allegedly flew into a rage after the victim, a 62-year-old male store employee, bumped into him.

Police allege that Diaz unloaded a flurry of vicious punches on the worker and even stomped on him — leaving him with a broken nose and internal bleeding.

Officers from the 108th Precinct responded to the incident. EMS rushed the victim to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition; sources report that his condition has since slightly improved.

Osvel Diaz arrested
Osvel Diaz, 29, was arrested for allegedly beating a Queens bodega worker and leaving him hospitalized in critical condition.Photo by Dean Moses

Detectives and the NYPD Warrant Squad tracked down Diaz at his home on 62nd Drive on June 26, but he allegedly did not go quietly.

Sources familiar with the investigation said that Diaz briefly barricaded himself inside the home along with a three-week-old baby. Following a brief standoff, however, police were able to take him into custody and rescue the tot, who was not injured.

Detectives escorted a handcuffed Diaz out of the 108th Precinct in Long Island City on Thursday morning. He refused to answer questions hurled at him by journalists before being loaded into a waiting police car en route to Queens Criminal Court for his arraignment.

Diaz is charged with attempted murder, assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.

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