Few things could have reminded Bayonne residents of what Bayonne is all about than the July 7 fundraiser for Dawid Strucinski at the Polish American Center on West 22nd Street.
Facebook, word of mouth, and news accounts fueled an emotional get-together that helped raise $25,000 to help defray the medical costs from Strucinski’s recent beating in Bayonne, allegedly at the hands of several teenagers.
Strucinski, 22, of Bayonne, tried to break up a fight in the early morning hours of July 3 when the attackers apparently turned on him, leaving him in a coma – from which he awoke in the afternoon of July 11.
“He is the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.” – Elizabeth Vosk
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“He was an all honors student in high school,” said Elizabeth Vosk, a friend. “He is the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet.”
The $25,000 does not include all of the money raised on the website or future possible corporate matching grants.
The flood of support came in many ways, from people donating money and food, to hundreds showing up at the center to sign a poster bearing Strucinski’s picture.
John Nestor, a resident of 27th Street, signed the poster and said he had come to help support the fundraising effort and to give his best wishes.
Anthony Graff, a graduate of Rutgers University, came to Bayonne to show support.
An organizing miracle
Dan Sautkin said they started working on the fundraiser immediately after the incident on Saturday.
“By Tuesday, we definitively knew we were doing this,” he said. “But we didn’t know exactly where we were going to hold it.”
Steve Grau said Strucinski’s friends got together one night to figure out how to organize the event.
“We put the location in somebody’s back yard. Then I looked at the weather and it said it might rain, so I started looking for other places.”
By this time, the responses began to pour in, hundreds of people saying they would attend.
“We realized there was no way we could do this in a back yard,” he said. “Luckily Dave was a member of the Polish American Society in high school and the Polish American Center donated the space for the event.”
Grau said spent all night July 6 setting up the hall for the event.
“I haven’t slept in about three days,” he said. “I’ve been running around, answering questions, and talking to reporters.”
The closest of friends
Grau and Sautkin are among Strucinski’s closest friends.
“I’ve been his friend since the sixth grade, and since seventh grade we’ve been best friends,” Sautkin said. “We do everything together. We play soccer together, hockey together, every day.”
Grau said they were part of a very close group.
“We have a group of about five people that are best friends,” he said.
Grau has been to the hospital several times to see Strucinski.
While he was with Strucinski the night of the incident, fortune or fate prevented him from being with them.
“I fell asleep on his couch and they went out without me,” he said.
Sautkin said the attack was a tragedy for a number of reasons.
“We’ve never had any problems like this before,” he said. “We’re trying to do everything by the book. We’re going to college, graduating and trying to get a job, and we get attacked by these people.”
Five teenagers have been arrested in connection with the incident.
A stunning response
The response to the fundraiser surprised everybody.
“The support is amazing. It is short notice,” Sautkin said. “But people on Facebook have been responding. We’ve received support from overseas. People are making banners.”
Grau said the support of the business community was a huge surprise. Initially, the kids were going to sell things that people baked, and then suddenly, restaurants and other businesses began to donate food to the event.
Grau said they hadn’t set a goal on how much they wanted to raise.
“Obviously we’re trying to get as much as we can get,” he said. “I want to thank everybody. They have been so kind to us.”
He said people from every part of Strucinski’s life have shown up – people who haven’t seen him in a while, people who knew him intimately, some people who didn’t even know him at all but felt the need to help him now.
Like other close friends, Grau goes to the hospital to see him.
“I talk to him all the time,” he said.
What will Grau say when Strucinski awakens from his coma?
“I’m going to tell him I love him,” Grau said.
Ironically, Grau was at Strucinki’s side the afternoon of July 11 when Strucinski woke from the coma.
Sautkin had a message for Strucinski.
“I want for Dawid to know how much people appreciate him,” he said. “He might not know it. But every day people have so much love for him, maybe they haven’t seen him in two years or three years, but they’re here supporting him. That’s how much love there is for him.”
For everyone who was unable to attend but would like to donate, please visit http://dawid.chipin.com.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.
Police continue to seek teens who attacked 22-year-old man
With five teens already in custody, the Bayonne police continue to search for those responsible for beating of Dawid Strucinski, 22, of Bayonne.
“We continue to pursue every lead,” said Public Safety Director Jason O’Donnell.
A video tape from a security camera at the nearby Sunflower Senior Center has provided some clues, he said, although it is too grainy to show any of the faces.
Strucinski’s friends said the tape only reinforced the horror of the events that led up to his hospitalization.
Deputy Police Chief Ralph Scianni said the incident started at about 3:02 a.m. on July 3 when one group of young people coming south on Broadway near 14th Street encountered another group going north, and a fight broke out after an exchange of words.
“Alcohol was involved,” he said. “This was a crime of opportunity. There were no other overtones.”
He said this was not gang-related and did not have anything to do with race.
Some of the people who were involved in the events have a slightly different account than the police report, and these witnesses say that Strucinski and two of his friends were walking to the Quik Check when they saw the fight.
“Dawid tried to break up the fight,” said Dan Sautkin. “It was strange timing. Me, Dawid and [another man]. We were walking. He went over there to break up the fight.”
At this point, witnesses told police that the attackers turned on Strucinski.
One of the attackers punched Strucinski which sent him to the ground, and others began to kick him.
The fight moved away from where Strucinski lay prone and unconscious, at which point one or more people went through his pockets and removed his wallet, a matter Scianni said is still under investigation.
Police arrived on the scene to find Strucinski on the ground unconscious, and the police immediately contacted McCabe Ambulance, which rushed him to Jersey City Medical Center, which is the trauma center for Hudson County.
Mickey McCabe said his people immediately put Strucinski on oxygen, noting that in these cases, oxygen to the brain is vital. McCabe said Strucinski was brought to the hospital where other critical tests could be performed quickly.
The police said Strucinski was admitted to Jersey City Medical Center in critical condition from head trauma, and was a few days later listed as critical, but stable.
During the afternoon of July 11, Strucinski woke from his coma.
Mayor Mark Smith said the full resources of the Police Department are being brought to bear on the case. – by Al Sullivan
Beating victim wakes from his coma
In something that his friends see as a miracle, Dawid Strucinski woke up out of his coma late July 11, while one of his best friends, Steve Grau sat at his side talking.
Strucinski was beaten into the coma on July 3 when he attempted to break up a fight between two groups of teens.
While Strucinski had not yet recovered his ability to speak by press time, he was apparently moving his right side, a part of his anatomy that had been relatively non-responsive while he was in a coma.
A 2007 graduate of Bayonne High School, Strucinski had just graduated from Rutgers with a degree in criminal justice – apparently with the intention of pursuing a career in law enforcement, perhaps with the FBI, friends said.
His friends raised $25,000 towards his medical expenses and set up a website to help collect more donations. – by Al Sullivan