Police Investigating Death After Forest Hills Beating

in the 112th Precinct are investigating an assault that occurred at early Saturday morning which may have led to the death of a Rosedale man.

The incident, which occurred Saturday morning after 3 a.m., erupted at Bartini's Lounge at 1 Station Square in Forest Hills. Haroon Walfall, 33, was at the club having drinks with friends when the fight broke out.

Walfall was allegedly attacked by a group of ten black men — none of whom were known to him — who beat him around the face and body, according to police.

After the fight broke up, the victim left the bar with his friends in their car and started the drive home to southeastern Queens. Walfall apparently started feeling ill before he reached home, and his friends took him to Franklin General Hospital in Nassau County.

He died early Saturday morning. Nassau County police responded to the hospital after the incident was reported to doctors there.

New York City police were quick to point out that the medical examiner has determined the cause of death to be cardiac arrest. Toxicology reports have yet to establish whether the cardiac arrest was connected to the injuries Walfall sustained in the beating.

The medical examiner said the injuries Walfall suffered should not have been life-threatening.

Police are currently investigating the incident only as an assault by a group of ten unknown men. The investigation may change once the medical examiner's toxicology report comes back.

Currently, police said, they have no suspects for the group of men who allegedly perpetrated the assault.

said she hoped the incident was a one-time tragedy.

"I'm confident that the 112th Precinct is working with all the local bars to prevent similar destructive behavior," Chain said. "They do have meetings with them to prevent this kind of behavior, they sit down and discuss exactly how to stop it."

She said she was unsure if Bartini's had been cited by officers from the precinct in the past for fighting or domestic disturbances.

"The goal is not to give them a summons after something happens, it's to prevent this kind of thing from ever happening," she added.

No one at Bartini's was available to comment on this story before publication.