Cops issue photos of NYC ex-con sought in sucker-punch robbery that killed Brooklyn man who cared for elderly mom

Cops on Friday released photos of the fugitive ex-con wanted for a sucker-punch robbery that killed a Brooklyn man devoted to caring for his elderly mom.

Police are on the hunt for career criminal Philip Meyers, who brutally mugged John Sarquiz, 55, on March 29 as Sarquiz walked home from a Dyker Heights mini-mart where he withdrew cash from an ATM machine, according to Chief of Detectives James Essig.

Meyers sucker-punched Sarquiz from behind on 13th Ave. near 73rd St. at about 7:50 p.m. and then repeatedly kicked the victim about the head and body before fleeing with his cash, say cops.

Sarquiz died five days later when family members made the decision to take him off life support at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn.

In August 1999, Meyers was charged with murder alongside his 13-year-old son for the fatal shooting and stabbing of 29-year-old Jose Sanchez in Brighton Beach, a police source said.

Meyers was convicted of manslaughter and paroled in 2009, records show. Following his release, said a source, he racked up another eight arrests. In all, the source said, he has been arrested 17 times, most recently in 2020 for burglary.

The 45-year-old suspect has sometimes used the name of Philip Mastridge, and his last known address was on Bay 19th St. in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, said Essig.

The victim’s sister, Christina Sarquiz, said the family had heard the wanted man had a rap sheet and previously did jail time, adding they were told the suspect was also a drug addict.

“I don’t know how someone with a repeat offense and criminal record is allowed to walk the streets,” she told the Daily News.

After his father died in 2014, Sarquiz became his elderly mother’s full-time live-in caretaker, according to relatives.

Sarquiz was targeted while walking the two blocks home from the Dean Mini-Market where he often bought lottery tickets for himself and scratch-offs for his mom, his sister said.