DA: Blood found all over suspects, inside car after knifing
Four men charged with stabbing two people outside a Hampton Bays bar Saturday — including a Riverhead man who is listed in “grave condition” — were found with blood stains on their clothing and inside their car when police pulled them over shortly after the reported knifing, according to assistant district attorney Carla Egan.
During a Sunday arraignment before Southampton Town Justice Deborah Kooperstein, Ms. Egan said the suspects were also in possession of a sheath that matched witness descriptions of the sheath seen during the attack, when a foot-long knife was drawn from a sheath and used during the attack on a 30-year-old Riverhead man who was repeatedly stabbed in the torso.
Southampton Town police said he was listed in “grave condition” at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Patchogue as of Saturday afternoon.
Another stabbing victim, age 23, was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center and is listed in “serious but stable condition,” police said Saturday.
Authorities said the victims, who haven’t been identified, were assaulted by four men: Nelvin Ramos-Andrades, 18, of Hampton Bays; Marvin Siciliano-Nunez, 19, of Hampton Bays; Luis Linares-Chavez, 22, of Westhampton; and Carlos Gutierrez-Zacupa, 23, of Flanders.
The stabbing was reported Saturday around 3:50 a.m. in the parking lot of Charlie Brown’s Bar and Grill on West Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays and the suspects fled the scene in one car, police said.
“Both victims were stabbed multiple times with knives,” Ms. Egan said in court, adding the defendants inflicted “life-threatening injuries” and charges could be upgraded if either victim dies from their stab wounds.
Ms. Egan said there are surveillance cameras inside the bar and in the parking lot that recorded the incidents leading up to the stabbing, but the actual stabbing was not recorded on video.
She said witnesses reported seeing the suspects using a foot-long knife drawn from a sheath and described their vehicle to police.
During the investigation, police located a sheath inside the car matching the the eyewitness description, Ms. Egan said.
Officers also found blood inside the car and on three of the suspects, she added.
In addition, she said one of the witnesses claims to have seen the men flashing signs that he identified as from the El Salvadoran street gang, Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13.
Mr. Gutierrez-Zacupa’s attorney, Antonio Salva of Bay Shore, told the court that his client has lived in Flanders since coming to America six years ago. He has a young child and another on the way, Mr. Salva said.
“He works seven days a week to maintain his family,” Mr. Salva said in court. He explained that a tattoo on Mr. Gutierrez-Zacuba means “I’m Always with You” and is not a gang slogan but rather is in honor of a former girlfriend who died of leukemia.
“He is not a gang member,” Mr. Salva said.
Mr. Salva acknowledged that Mr. Gutierrez-Zacupa has a prior driving while intoxicated conviction from Sept. 21, 2015, from which he is on probation.
Ms. Egan said that since Mr. Gutierrez-Zacupa was born in El Salvador, there’s reason to believe he could be a flight risk.
Mr. Siciliano-Nunez said in court, through a Spanish interpreter, that he has lived in Hampton Bays for three years and works as a painter for a Flanders company.
Ms. Egan said he’s also facing has a driving while intoxicated charge from March 16 in Southampton Town, as well as an immigration charge in Laredo, Texas from July 18, 2014. Additional information about that incident wasn’t immediately available.
Both Mr. Siciliano-Nunez and Mr. Gutierrez-Zacupa pleaded not guilty and were held on $250,000 bail.
Each suspect was charged with two counts of felony gang assault in the first degree, officials said. Mr. Linares-Chavez was also charged with a driving while ability impaired, police said. Under state law, gang assault refers to an assault by two or more people, and does not imply affiliation with a street gang.
Mr. Linares-Chavez’s arraignment was postponed until Monday in order to give him time to obtain an attorney.
Mr. Ramos-Andrades’ arraignment was done in private because the 18-year-old suspect was granted youthful offender status and audience members were asked to step outside the courtroom while his arraignment took place.
Prosecutors have asked that an order of protection be issued against the suspects barring them from contact with the victims, a request Judge Kooperstein granted Sunday.
Charlie Brown’s Bar and Grill and is owned by Luis and Rosa Tejada, according to State Liquor Authority records.
Luis Tejada had previously owned the Crystal Bar on West Main Street in Riverhead, which lost its liquor license in 2007 after the authority cited several stabbings and wrote that “the premises has become the focal point of police activity.”
Photo: Charlie Brown’s Bar and Grill in Hampton Bays. (Credit: Tim Gannon)
Correction: The caption in a previous version of this story incorrectly identified the suspects due to an editing error. The correct names are (from left) Luis Linares-Chavez, Carlos Gutierrez-Zacupa, Nevin Ramos-Andrades, and Marvin Siciliano-Nunez.
