Man Punches Lady into Coma Over Parking Spot

Finding a parking space in NYC can be an arduous task. So, when a spot opened up on street last week, a woman guarded it like a hawk -- but another driver wanted the space, too. Suffice to say, words were exchanged, blows were thrown and the woman -- well, she's in coma.

Lana Rosas was holding the spot for her boyfriend between two parked cars outside 520 E. 14th St. at 11:40 p.m. last Friday when Oscar Fuller drove up in a silver minivan. Fuller -- whose prior busts include weapons possession and felony assault -- jumped out and started screaming at Rosas when she claimed she was holding the space, police sources said. Fuller then "punched [her] in the face with so much force that the woman flew off her feet," according to court papers. "She was on a date with the man she loves, and this horrific thing happen to her," her mother said. The victim's uncle, Mark Rosas, fumed, "We have idiots out here who try to take matters into their own hands . . . Animals like that need to be caged up." A police source added, "The victim suffered permanent brain damage. It's uncertain whether or not she will survive her injuries." Fuller, 35, allegedly sped from the scene, which is across the street from Stuyvesant Town, but cops got his plate number and two witnesses picked his mug from a photo array. Detectives arrested him at his home on 195th Street in Jamaica, Queens, Tuesday night, and he was picked out of a lineup at the Ninth Precinct station house, sources said. The electrician, a father of two, was charged with felony assault and remains jailed at the Manhattan Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 bail. "I would never intend to physically hurt a woman," he said in a statement through his lawyer, Thomas Kenniff. "If there is anything I could do to strengthen her recovery, I would do it." The lawyer accused Rosas of starting the fight and insists surveillance video shows her throwing the first punch. "She hit him in the face," Kenniff said. "My client has the injuries to prove it." But a police source said Fuller admitted to punching a woman at the scene.
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Lana remains hospitalized after surgeons opened her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.

Update: Oscar says he acted out of self-defense. He said got out of his car and calmly asked Lana to step away and let him park but "she began hitting me in the face. It threw me off. It just puzzled me. She hit me like four or five times." When her boyfriend started to run toward them, Oscar said: "I hit the girl, jumped into my car and pulled off."