An elderly Atlantic City man was in critical condition Friday afternoon, after he was viciously attacked on busy Atlantic Avenue overnight.
A passerby found Alfred Kessleski, 71, badly beaten at Georgia and Atlantic Avenues just before 2 a.m.
“He was lying face down, he had been assaulted, he was bloody,” said Atlantic City Police Sgt. Monica McMenamin.
Investigators said Kessleski was suffering from severe head injuries.
The victim was rushed to the trauma unit at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, where he was in the intensive care unit Friday afternoon.
Three men were seen leaving the area, police said, but otherwise detectives have little to go on.
“It appears preliminarily that it was a robbery. We haven’t been able to speak to the victim yet because of his condition,” McMenamin said.
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It’s unclear if anything was taken from the victim. Police were checking for surveillance video in the area.
The attack happened outside Kessleski’s home and across the street from the popular Ducktown Tavern.
Police said he frequents the bar and had been there about 20 minutes prior to the assault.
“Nicest guy in the world,” said Marty Gendek, another bar regular and friend of the victim. “He’d give you the shirt off his back. Never bothered anybody,” Gendek said.
A Ducktown Tavern waitress told police Kessleski did not have any trouble with anyone at the bar before he was attacked.
Gendek hopes investigators are able to track down the culprits soon.
“I don’t call [the attackers] people. I don’t call them animals. I call them trash,” he said.
