Man brutally beaten outside B’klyn bodega

A Brooklyn deli customer was brutally pummeled on a Brooklyn street corner Tuesday afternoon by a homeless man who knocked him to the ground with a punch, then jumped on top of him and kept beating him, police said.

The victim, 66, his face and head battered and bloodied, was rushed to Kings County Hospital in critical condition.

His 24-year-old attacker fractured the bones in his face, broke his nose and caused severe head trauma all because the older man told him to hurry up in line at the deli, police sources said.

The man was so badly beaten that one of the responding officers couldn’t find a pulse and started chest compressions while waiting for medics to arrive, the sources said.

Pools of blood marred the deli entrance. Cops did not disclose the names them men.

The suspect was taken into custody outside the bodega at Clarkson and Rogers Ave. in Crown Heights at 3:19 p.m., moments after police received a 911 call.

Surveillance video showed the victim on his cell phone when the suspect lashed out, police said.. The victim held out one hand in a failed attempt to deflect the blows.

Police said that from the video it appeared the two men might have locked stares, with one gesturing to the other before the assault.

The suspect, who told police he lives in a homeless shelter, was being questioned at the 71st Precinct stationhouse.

People in the neighborhood said the suspect is known locally as “Kai Kai.”

“Kai Kai ... looks like a wolf, but he’s really a lamb,” Adonis Bowman, 49, said.

Bowman said before the beatdown, “He was calm and he was nice. That why we were wondering what tripped him off.” He said Kai Kai has been homeless for some time since his parents moved away.

Ivan Williams, 63, said he and his wife often bring Kai Kai food. He said he gave him $2 Tuesday before the attack.

“Everybody look out for him,” Williams said. “This is heartbreaking.”