38-year-old victim slugged by moped-riding menace on NYC street dies of injuries

A beloved Brooklyn tenant who moved from Germany to pursue a tech career in New York City died Friday after he was slugged by a moped-riding menace three days earlier, police announced Monday. 

Florian Oltmann, 38, died of his injuries on Friday after the brute sucker punched him and his 56-year-old pal when the pair confronted the man for bumping into them on the sidewalk in front of Rudy’s Bar and Grill on Ninth Avenue near West 44th Street around 2:40 a.m. Tuesday morning, cops said.

Oltmann’s friend and the aggressor exchanged words before the moped driver punched the man in the face, knocking him unconscious, according to police.

Oltmann then confronted the slugger but was also knocked in the face with what would become a fatal blow when his head smashed into the concrete, the NYPD said.

He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and was placed on a respirator until his parents flew in from Germany, the landlord of his Williamsburg apartment building told The Post. died three days later.

He was taken off life support after his relatives arrived to see their gravely injured son, said his 80-year-old landlord Esad Taipovic who visited him in the hospital. 

“I can just imagine the pain they’re going through — I don’t think there’s words to describe it,” Taipovic’s daughter-in-law told The Post. “It breaks my heart. It really, really breaks my heart.”

Otlmann, who lived alone, moved into the building sometime between 2017 and 2018 and was Taipovic’s favorite tenant.

The octogenarian, who lives on Staten Island, came to rely on her German renter who she called the “best guy in the building” who was loved by all. 

“He was the best,” she said. “Believe me. I call in the night any night, I have the garbage outside or whatever, he’s going in the middle of the night putting the garbage inside. I can’t say [anything] bad about him. Everybody liked him. He died and everybody cried in the building.”

He grew to become like family to the elderly building owner and often helped with things around the building to save her the trip from Staten Island, her daughter-in-law said. 

“My parents love the building and they care for whoever lives in there… I got to tell you, he was above, more like a family [member],” she said. “Every time when he saw my parents, he would go visit, go say hello to them, and he would just give them a hug and he would say, ‘You guys remind me of my mom and my dad — they’re far away — but you guys bring me that family closeness.’” 

“I still can’t wrap my head around it. It is very, very traumatic,” the daughter-in-law said of his untimely death. 

Oltmann had moved from Germany to New York for a career opportunity in the tech sector and loved the city that became his home, Taipovic’s daughter-in-law said. 

“The opportunity that he got to work in New York — he was ecstatic to come here,” the woman, who asked not to be identified for privacy concerns, told The Post.

She recalled Oltmann as a dream tenant, who effortlessly earned the admiration of her family and other building residents alike shortly after moving in.

“He was nothing but an amazing individual — very respectful, very caring, hardworking, minding his own business,” she said of Oltmann. “And there’s just no words to describe somebody like that — to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. It’s just not right.”

“New York is not safe anymore. You cannot even walk to get a cab to go home,” she said of Big Apple crime. “Nobody wants to be in the city anymore.”

The daughter-in-law has been in touch with Oltmann’s parents, who flew back to Germany on Sunday to make arrangements. 

Oltmann’s friend who was also punched by the moped driver, from Illinois, was taken to Mount Sinai West in stable condition following the assault, police said.

The alleged killer fled on his black moped following the vicious attack. He remains at large. 

“I hope to god [cops] get the perp,”  Taipovic’s daughter-in-law said. “I really, really hope to God they get him. It’s just wrong. He does not belong on the streets. He does not belong to live. I’m sorry.”