The father of two didn't know what hit him back on Oct. 16.

A left hook to the jaw — allegedly by a bouncer — and suddenly James Koons was knocked to the ground unconscious, outside of Club Oasis, a Southwest Philadelphia strip club, investigators said that videotape surveillance showed.

Koons, 31, of Media in Delaware County, never got to see his children again.

When police arrived after 6 p.m., they found him with blood oozing from his head and ears, said police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore. Koons was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where he was initially in a coma, police said.

After an unspecified number of days on life support, Koons was taken off late yesterday afternoon, said Lt. John Walker, who handled the investigation with Southwest Detectives until it was turned over last night to the Homicide Unit. Koons died of head trauma.

Charged Oct. 17 with attempted murder, conspiracy and other crimes are Robert Laflar, 43, owner of the property where Club Oasis is located on Essington Avenue near 68th Street, according to real estate records; Brendan Davis, 32, a club bouncer from Oreland, Montgomery County; and John Pettit, 48, a bouncer from Pennsauken, N.J., police said.

Those charges are expected to be amended by the District Attorney's Office to include murder, police said yesterday.

Koons' pal George Foreacre, 35, of Secane, Delaware County, suffered four fractured vertebrae before the alleged fatal punch that night, but survived a beating that Koons apparently tried to stop.

When reached by phone last night, a Club Oasis manager refused to comment on Koon's death, directing calls to club lawyer Fortunato N. Perri.

"Obviously it's a very sad tragedy, the passing of this man is very tragic," said Perri, who represents only Laflar. "But all three men have maintained their innocence and beyond that I can't comment about the specifics of what happened that evening."

Pettit's punch to Koons was captured on video by the club's surveillance system, Walker said. He said Laflar and Pettit had been talking to the victim, then both walked out of camera range. Pettit walked back toward Koons and into camera range, then suddenly strikes the victim in the jaw, according to Walker.

The detective said that another unnamed Club Oasis employee has been charged with obstruction of justice for dismantling the video-surveillance system before police arrived, Walker said. Pettit and Davis also purportedly participated in the dismantling and they too will be charged, Walker said.

The punch thrown at Koons was part of a spontaneous melee outside the club that night after Koons and Foreacre were kicked out of Club Oasis because of a dispute with a female employee.

That female worker in question, who police say is not a dancer, is believed to be the girlfriend of Laflar.

The men were waiting in the parking lot for a club staffer to return one of their credit cards and, on the video, waited for 8 to 9 minutes, Walker said.

The video shows Laflar pulling up in his car and he begins talking with Koons and Foreacre, Walker said. At one point after the discussion, Laflar walks past Foreacre and strikes him closed-fisted, Walker said. *