Homeless man arrested after beating unhoused acquaintance to death in Queens

A 38-year-old homeless man is dead after suffering severe injuries in a fight he had with a homeless acquaintance, who has been arrested and charged with his murder in Ridgewood, according to the police.

On Friday, April 30, around 3 a.m., Lukasz Ruszczyk and Piotr Wilk, 35, were heavily intoxicated and got into a physical fight on the southwest corner of Putnam and Forest Avenues, according to the NYPD.

Medical responders were called to the scene and arrived to find Ruszczyk with “significant injury,” police said. The 38-year-old was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where he died of his injuries on Tuesday, May 4.

Wilk, who had been arrested at the hospital on April 30, was charged with murder on Tuesday, according to the NYPD.

Police could not confirm the cause of the fight.

The investigation is ongoing.