Violent NYC parolee fatally gunned down wings restaurant worker, then killed deli customer in heists 48 hours apart: cops
A violent parolee is wanted for fatally gunning down a “kind” Brooklyn wings restaurant worker and married dad of two — then shooting dead a Bronx deli customer — in heists about 48 hours apart, cops said.
Jesus Acosta, 31 – who has been on parole since April after doing 10 years behind bars for a 2015 Harlem subway shooting – committed his latest blood-soaked crimes around midnight Sunday at America’s Best Wings and Pizza on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville, police said.
He shot a 44-year-old worker – identified by loved ones as “hardworking” MD Yousuf – in the head and struck another man, 39, in the leg, officials said.
Both men were taken to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where Yousuf succumbed to his injuries, and the other victim was listed in stable condition, police said.
Yousuf, who was originally from Bangladesh, “was a hardworking, kind man who supported his family and showed up for his coworkers every day,” according to a GoFundMe page organized on his family’s behalf.
“MD Yousuf was the only income earner for his family,” the fundraising page said. “He is survived by his wife, his mother, and two daughters, ages 12 and 3. His family had no warning and no savings for something like this. They now have no income and no way to bring his body home.”
It was not immediately clear what if anything Acosta was allegedly able to steal during the stick-up before he fled.
Then around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, the gun-toting criminal opened fire during another hold-up at a deli on East 149th Street near Walton Avenue in the Concourse section of The Bronx – hitting a 33-year-old male customer in the chest, police said.
That victim – who remains unidentified pending family notification – was rushed to Lincoln Medical Center, where he was initially listed in stable condition, authorities said.
But his condition quickly deteriorated and he was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said later Tuesday.
Video from that scene, obtained by WABC, shows the hooded gunman ignoring a customer at the counter before brazenly opening fire at another.
The shooter is shown then rifling through the cash register before removing wads of cash and fleeing through the door. It was not immediately clear how much money was stolen.
Acosta – who did not know either of the dead victims – was identified as the suspect in both shootings by his parole officer, according to law-enforcement sources.
He served just over 10 years in state prison before he was released on parole in April in connection to the May 5, 2015, shooting of a stranger during a dispute at the 110th Street–Malcolm X Plaza train station in Manhattan, according to cops and public records.
In that case, he got into an argument with the 20-year-old victim on board a northbound No. 2 train just after 11 p.m. before pumping a bullet into the victim’s left arm when the skirmish continued on the crowded platform, police said.
He pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and was sentenced to 11 years behind bars in 2016, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
Besides the subway case, Acosta has three other previous arrests, police said. It’s unclear what they were for.
Police describe him as having a light complexion, around 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes.
He also has the word “Bronx” tattooed on his hand and the name “Bobby” tattooed on his left forearm, police said.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on X @NYPDTips.