Update: Riverside man dies from injuries following Hampton Bays shooting
A 64-year-old Riverside man was killed Friday after a shooting at Dream Night Club in Hampton Bays and his killer remains on the run, Suffolk County Police said.
Carlo Petrusa, 64, of Riverleigh Ave., was standing near the club’s entrance when he was fatally shot shortly before 4 a.m.
A large melee broke out after two participants began to fight following the results of a costume contest, Southampton Town police said. One man involved in the scuffle went out to his car, where he retrieved the handgun he used to open fire on the front entrance of the club.
The other victim, suspected drug dealer and club promoter Shawn Badgett, 35, of Coram was also shot. Mr. Badgett left the scene and was transported by friends to Stony Brook University Medical Center.
Southampton Detective Sergeant Randy Hintze said Mr. Petrusa was not involved in the brawl.
“He was a bystander who had come down to the club before the fights started as he knows the premise owner,” Det. Sgt. Hintze said. “There is no link with him to the promoter.”
Suffolk County Police announced about 11:30 p.m. Friday that Mr. Petrusa had succumbed to his wounds at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after the shooting. The case has since been turned over to Suffolk County homicide detectives.
Police said the shooter, and the two men who started the scuffle, all fled the scene before police arrival. The shooter was wearing a costume that resembled characters from the 1995 film “Dead Presidents,” according to police. The film is about a group of Vietnam veterans who rob banks while dressed in all black with white face makeup.
No arrests have been made.
Mr. Badgett had been arrested in May in what the District Attorney’s office called the largest drug bust ever recorded on the East End. A search of his home on 15 Albright Drive in Coram netted 40 bags of heroin, 5.6 ounces of crack cocaine and more than $70,000 in cash, officials said. Mr. Badgett, who police said was cooking cocaine when they arrived at his home, allegedly supplied others throughout the North and South forks with heroin.
During the search in Coram, police said they found $73,000 strewn about the home in various locations, including under a nightstand and in a pair of pants. Detectives found another $90,000 in Mr. Badgett’s safe deposit box and $260 in counterfeit bills in a woman’s purse, authorities said.
He was freed from the county jail July 22 after posting $250,000 bail and is due back in court Dec. 9, authorities said.
This post was originally published Oct. 30, 2010
