Dead in brawl
Victim, 24, fought 2 men outside Queens bar
A LONG ISLAND man died early Saturday after getting into a brawl with at least two men outside a Queens strip club, police said.
Cops found Kevin Figueroa, 24, of Elmont, sprawled out on Queens Blvd. near Hillyer St. in Elmhurst about 4:30 a.m., suffering from a massive head wound.
Medics rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital, where he died.
Police sources said Figueroa got into an argument with the brawlers after leaving the Vanity Gentlemen’s Lounge — a few feet away from where he was found unconscious.
Video surveillance showed the victim tussling with the pair before falling onto the ground.
The men ran off and haven’t been apprehended.
Police sources said Figueroa didn’t have any problems with anyone at the bar.
Cops also don’t know if the fatal injuries he suffered came from the fight or from a fall. An autopsy has been slated to determine how he died.
Figueroa’s panicked family was too distraught to speak to the Daily News Saturday.
His mother broke down in tears as she and her family rushed to Elmhurst Hospital to identify his body.
Neighbors on his leafy Long Island block couldn’t believe Figueroa had gotten into a fight just before his death.
“(Kevin and his brother) are really, really good kids,” a perplexed Carlton Gregory said. “I’m proud of them just like my own kids.”
“You know how you hear something happened and people say they’re good kids?” the 58-year-old investor said. “This is not a joke, these are good kids!”
Most neighbors knew Figueroa as “Little Kevin.”
Orlando Rowe, 24, went to Elmont Memorial High School with Figueroa. His former classmate was not a troublemaker, he said.
“Throughout high school, he didn’t really hang with guys that I’d expect would (get in fights). It’s really devastating.”
The sudden realization that he wouldn’t be seeing Figueroa on the block again hit Gregory like a thunderbolt.
“Wow, just like that,” the stunned neighbor said. “He can’t come back, no matter what happens. That’s the sad part.”