Posted on October 16, 2019

‘They Beat the Crap out of Me’: NBC Director Attacked by Mob Doing Halloween Dance in Midtown

Mikey Light and Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, October 15, 2019

A gang of ghoulish bullies broke into a bizarre Halloween dance in front of a television director on his way to work, then pummeled the senior when he tried to walk around them, police said.

John Sullivan, 72, had just gotten off the train at Sixth Ave. near W. 43rd St. about 2:20 a.m. Monday and was heading to 30 Rockefeller Center when nine people in their early 20s suddenly blocked his path.

John Sullivan

“They were circling around me, and they were pointing their fingers in my face. They’re dancing, and all of a sudden they’re punching me. They beat the crap out of me,” Sullivan, a technical director for Plaza Productions, an NBCUniversal affiliate, told the Daily News.

The group made “boo” noises as if they were ghosts, Sullivan recalled.

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The malevolent mob eventually ran off. When medics arrived, Sullivan declined a trip to the hospital, settling instead for an ice pack for his bruised face.

The 53-year NBC veteran, who’s worked on shows like “The Tonight Show,” “NBC Nightly News” and “Saturday Night Live” then continued on to start his 4 a.m. shift.

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Police say they are looking for seven men and two women. Anyone with information is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

Three of the seven thugs who beat up John Sullivan