UBER SLAY 'FEES
But blames vic
A recreational hockey player confessed to killing an off-duty Uber driver by whacking him on the head with his stick, as cops rounded up surveillance video of the deadly incident outside Chelsea Piers, authorities said.
Kohji Kosugi, 39, allegedly told cops he used his hockey stick to bash 68year-old Randolph Tolk, who jumped into his 2010 Toyota Camry to escape the raging puck-head before crashing into a median on West Street following the attack at 11:40 Saturday night.
A criminal complaint Monday charged Kosugi with first-degree manslaughter on grounds he intended to inflict “serious physical injury” when he allegedly bashed Tolk, causing his death.
The fatal confrontation unfolded when Tolk stopped his car in the crosswalk at 20th Street and 11th Avenue, and Kosugi tapped on its hood with the stick, according to law-enforcement sources.
During an appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday, defense lawyer David Jeffries questioned the connection between the alleged attack and Tolk’s crash “approximately half a mile” away.
Afterward, Jeffries also called Tolk the “initial ag- gressor” and said he “triggered this outcome by failing to observe the rules of the road.”
The manner and cause of the victim’s death has not yet been determined, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Kosugi, who holds a medical degree from St. George’s University in Grenada, works as a waiter at the Nakamura NYC restaurant on the Lower East Side.
His wife, Dr. Janine Cochol, declined to comment outside court.