Cops seek alleged assailant, victims in Port Richmond sledgehammer attack

After an attack by a man with a sledgehammer in Port Richmond was caught on surveillance video, police on Wednesday sought the public's help in identifying not only the alleged assailant but the victims.

About 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, police learned of the attack, captured by a business' surveillance video on the 2700 block of East Luzerne Street. The video shows "some very disturbing events" after two vehicles entered the business' parking lot, a police spokesman, Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, told reporters at a news conference.

After a silver SUV stopped in the lot, a man in a red pickup truck stopped behind it, got out of the truck, and struck the driver's side of the other vehicle multiple times with a sledgehammer, "breaking the window, denting the metal, causing a lot of damage," Kinebrew said.

As the SUV driver tries to drive away, the video shows, a front-seat passenger either falls out or gets out of the vehicle. The man with the sledgehammer then hits the passenger, who appears to be limping, with the weapon, before the passenger gets back into the SUV after the driver had stopped.

Both vehicles then drove off.

Police have been unable to identify or locate the assailant or the victims, who have not come forward, Kinebrew said. They do not know the extent of the victims' injuries and have been searching for them in hospitals, he said.

Police were made aware of the attack after TV news reported it Tuesday. The video had been posted on YouTube but has since been removed.

NBC10 reported that a witness, who did not want to be identified, told the station that he heard the attacker yell, "You're cheating with my girlfriend!" Police Wednesday did not confirm a motive behind the assault.

Tipsters should contact East Detectives at 215-686-3243.