An immigrant cabdriver, who worked seven days a week to realize his dream of bringing his family to the United States, died yesterday after a passenger punched him in the face, cops said.
It was unclear whether the man who attacked Mohammed Butt, 50, of Queens, will face charges.
Butt picked up three people on Central Park South at 1:25 a.m. and each passenger blurted out a different destination.
When Butt asked them to decide where they were going, they became angry. At least one of them got out of the cab, went to Butt’s side of the car and punched him in the face, cops said.
An ambulance took the injured cabdriver to St. Clare’s Hospital, but he went into cardiac arrest and died a little over an hour later, police and colleagues said.
Investigators interviewed the man who punched Butt, and released him until results of an autopsy – scheduled to be performed today – shows whether the attack contributed to the cabby’s death, police said.
Butt is survived by a wife and five children – three sons and two daughters – in Pakistan.
His friends and loved ones said he worked tirelessly – at least 10 hours a day Monday through Friday, and 12 hours on the weekends.
“Everyone told him don’t work so hard,” said Butt’s heartbroken brother Niser Butt, who runs an auto shop.
“But he said he has a daughter and she wanted to get married. He was planning to bring [his family] here as soon as he had the money and the visas.”
“He liked to say he was always thinking of his children, and that he liked it here,” the brother said through his tears.
It was the second tragedy to strike the Butt family in a year, Niser said. Robbers in Pakistan killed his father and aunt six months ago. A suspect was arrested.
A friend said the victim called him just after Sunday’s attack, saying that he had been hit at least twice – in the face and back.
“He called me on the cell phone and said, ‘Some people hit me and I don’t feel very well,’ ” said fellow cabdriver Ghulam Khan, 41. “He said, ‘I have back pain and I can’t breathe very well.'”