WPIX Consumer Reporter Howard Thompson fronts the popular segment "Help Me Howard".

But, it was Howard that needed the help after he tried to confront and auto-mechanic who was a deadbeat.

When Thompson and the Photog showed up to interview Jose Lebron-Pimentel yesterday, the man came out swinging a baseball bat at the news crew. 

Lebron-Pimentel struck Thompson in the arm, and hit his 57-year-old cameraman in the hip, cops said.

The two chose not to go to the hospital. The mechanic is charged with assault, police said.

Thompson was planning to challenge Lebron-Pimentel on behalf of a viewer who claimed the mechanic owed him in a pay dispute, police sources said.

H/T NY Daily News