Dozens Walk Past Dying Hero Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax On New York Sidewalk (VIDEO)

Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax was stabbed several times in the chest while saving a woman from a knife-wielding attacker. Then he bled to death while dozens of people walked by -- one stopping to snap a picture of the dying man with his cameraphone before leaving the scene.

Tale-Yax, 31, a homeless Guatemalan immigrant, collapsed at 144th Street and 88th Road in Jamaica, Queens, while in pursuit of the woman's attacker around 5:40 a.m. on April 18. He was pronounced dead by medical workers who responded to a 911 call around 7:20 a.m. But surveillance video obtained the New York Post, which the New York Times got the NYPD to confirm is genuine, shows that plenty of people saw Tale-Yax lying there in his death throes and did nothing.

WATCH:

The police said they were looking for the man who was in the altercation with the woman. He was described as 5-foot-6, with a medium build, wearing a green short-sleeved shirt and a green hat.

The police were not sure if the woman knew what happened to Mr. Tale-Yax, but they said it was possible she knew the suspect. They are waiting for her or a third party to come forward with more information.

Comments

[Tammy Pickering]

10:36 AM on 05/06/2010

Too bad new york doesn't have rules like other states where if you do not help a citizen that needs help you get arrested- those people should all be ashamed and in jail- they are no better than the one who stabbed him- because they allowed him to die

[Sonkwa Sonkwa]

07:32 PM on 04/28/2010

This is how you get people like Tom Brady I think
Personally I believe in reincarnat­ion.
In the next life I hope he's a Super Bowl winner with a 100watt smile and married to a supermodel­. Something tells me that the universe does not let these souls go unrewarded­.

[Faelsun]

05:32 PM on 04/27/2010

Most people are sheep they will watch you die, people live their lives like a multiuser video game, once you are out of their comfort zone they STOP.

[Sheilah Kring]

02:44 PM on 04/27/2010

The comments about passersby thinking he was just one of the many "drunk homeless men" that people see every day in NY is also kind of ridiculous­. For one, he was lying sprawled out face down in a puddle of blood... which could tip anyone off... but even if you wanted to argue that maybe they couldn't see it, I ask you this -- If men in his state are so prevalent in NYC, then why would someone stop and check him and shake him? And why would another stop and shoot a picture with his cell phone? If this is something that New Yorkers see every day riddled all over the street? Seems like it would get mighty boring shooting pictures of those tons of drunken homeless guys, wouldn't it?

[LateBoomer2]

04:44 AM on 04/28/2010

Very good point.

[hartkid]

02:26 PM on 04/27/2010

In a weird twist, the woman he saved from the knife attack was also on a waiting list for a liver and Hugo Alfredo's liver was a perfect match. He saved her life twice. Once more, and we got ourselves a goocher. Keep me posted.

[Candide33]

06:10 PM on 04/27/2010

Urban myth, the guy was dead much to long to harvest organs

[dclintn648]

02:01 PM on 04/27/2010

I've seen a lot of comments claiming that it's not unusual to see people sleeping in the street in large cities... First, the man was lying face-down, not as a sleeping person does, but sprawled out in what would obviously be an uncomforta­ble position. Second, several people checked him out closer, and a couple of them moved him, so they saw the blood and still did nothing. These are not good Samaritans­, like this poor hero - these selfish people simply didn't want to get involved because it would inconvenie­nce them. Period. I hope Karma takes care of them.

[hartkid]

02:23 PM on 04/27/2010

I saw a man on the street- - some punks had chopped off his head. I was the only one stopped to see if he was dead. Turned out he was dead. Why!? What is wrong with the world today?

[MarshaMarshaMarsha]

01:44 PM on 04/27/2010

Hideous! And the woman he tried to help? Did she just walk off? Didn't even stop to thank him and then see he needed help. Being alone is not an excuse to leave someone without aid. Passing by him and not stopping because he might be homeless, asleep is also not an excuse.
What happened to the goodness of the American spirit? All of you who witnessed this, be shamed, it could be you in the street next time.

[ILikeTurtles]

01:40 PM on 04/27/2010

This is a huge tragedy but let's talk about it honestly. From the video it doesn't appear that the blood Mr. Tale-Yax was laying in was apparent to the passers by. I HIGHLY doubt that people walking by could tell he was bleeding. What's more likely is they saw a homeless man passed out on the sidewalk in NYC. If you stopped and called the paramedics for every homeless guy passed out on the street in NY or SF you would never get anywhere. That's the honest truth. And most of the folks slamming the passers by in the video would do the exact same thing

[mylittlepwny]

12:30 PM on 04/27/2010

Neutrality in action. I am told it is a good thing.

[Richard Pearce]

11:57 AM on 04/27/2010

I remember hearing about an experiment carried out at an American bible school. The basic premise was that they would set things up so that those studying to be come ministers would have to go from an appointmen­t in one building to an appointmen­t in another, and in so doing would pass by someone sprawled out motionless on the ground.

When these future spiritual leaders felt a little bit of time pressure, almost every single one of them walked over the person without so much as a glance, even though they had been told to prepare a semon on 'the Good Samaratin'­, and were told they were on their way to deliver that sermon.

[Tlanice]

03:58 PM on 04/28/2010

Ha! I would love to read that experiment and share it. Do you remember where you heard it? At least something to narrow down a google search

[TankGirlz]

11:45 AM on 04/27/2010

This is the tragedy of living in fear.

[Sonkwa Sonkwa]

07:29 PM on 04/28/2010

post of the day award.

[NowInMegaVision]

11:02 AM on 04/27/2010

Sad

[Ayasha Jones]

11:02 AM on 04/27/2010

omg

[Planet Express]

10:56 AM on 04/27/2010

Bless this man.

[QueenCeleste]

02:36 AM on 04/27/2010

Shameful. The Kitty Genovese syndrome maybe? Whatever the reason, it is appalling beyond words.