Washington Heights - Man beaten with piece of wood, stabbed to death

                         Police investigate the scene of a murder in Washington Heights.

A 24-year-old man was beaten with a piece of wood pulled from the garbage then stabbed to death in Manhattan early Wednesday, sources said.

Jonathan Delarosa got into a fight outside the Lucky Seven Tapas Bar on St. Nicholas Ave. in Washington Heights around 4:30 a.m., police sources said.

A group of men chased Delarosa, beat him with the piece of wood, then stabbed him, leaving him for dead in the middle of Audubon Ave. near W. 183nd St., sources said.

Delarosa — who sources said had seven prior arrests, including one last week for felony assault with a gun — died at the scene.

A worker at a nearby automotive shop who was napping said he awoke to the sound of commotion outside his business.

"I heard screaming, yelling," said the man, who would only give his name as Eddie. "It sounded like a huge group, they chased him down the street. It looked like he was running for his life."

The man said after he came out of his shop he found the victim and called the police.

"Somebody said, 'There's a guy in the middle of the street down there,' so I walked down there and I called 911," Eddie said, "He was dead already."

The man said he has seen many fights and plenty of violence spill out of the Lucky Seven Tapas Bar and its neighboring bar, La Casa Del Mofongo, and he is sick of it.

"Those two clubs, they need to close those places down," he said. "I've seen so many fights, stabbings, shootings from over there."

Police are still investigating the crime and no arrests have been made.