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.
Police charged Salim Malik, 32, of Queens, with assault for allegedly hitting Mohammed Butt, 50, also of Queens.
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 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, where he went into cardiac arrest and died a little more than an hour later, police and colleagues said.
An autopsy will be performed today and, if it shows that the attack contributed to the cabby’s death, the charges against Malik could be upgraded, 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.”
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 Mohammed Butt called him just after yesterday’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.'”