Kenny Guido
Well-known member
Stabbed Over a Smoke
Cops: Bouncer dies after telling club-goer to take it outside
By Melanie Lefkowitz
STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Jerome Burdi contributed to this story.
April 14, 2003
An East Village nightclub bouncer was fatally stabbed when he tried to enforce the city's new smoking ban yesterday and wound up at the center of a deadly brawl, police said.
"A casualty over a cigarette - it's just senseless," said Richard Allen, owner of Forte Security, which employed bouncer Dana Blake, 32. "I can't make heads or tails of it."
Police said the two alleged attackers, brothers who live in Chinatown, tried to flee the Avenue B club Guernica, but employees chased them down and held them on East Third Street until officers arrived.
Ching Chan, of 22 Mulberry St., and Jonathan Chan, of 138 Suffolk St., were charged with assault, weapons possession and resisting arrest. Further charges may be pending, police said.
Michael O'Looney, a police spokesman, gave the following account:
Blake approached the Chans in the club and told them to stop smoking. One of the brothers said something in response that was difficult to hear over the music. Blake apparently believed Jonathan Chan, 29, was becoming disorderly and he grabbed him by the neck to throw him out. Jonathan Chan grabbed Blake's neck and jumped on the 6-foot-5, 300-pound bouncer with his brother, 31, and two friends. The friends were interviewed by police but not charged.
Blake was stabbed in the lower abdomen during that scuffle, police said. He was rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center at 2:30 a.m., and died 11 hours later.
"It should never have happened - he's so calm and disarming," Allen said. "He's the kind of guy who would go into a situation and try to defuse the situation. He'd never use his hands or violence."
Blake, of Long Island City, worked in security for about a decade, said friends, who described him as a "gentle giant."
His brother, Tony Blake, 45, of Long Island City, said he was a talented artist who loved to draw superhero cartoons and a devoted godfather who believed "no toy was good enough" for his 2-year-old niece.
"We were just praying his big break would come through the arts someday, but it's a tough thing to break into," said Tony Blake, a construction worker. "He's not a bully. He must have tried to talk to these guys."
Friends and relatives blamed the smoking ban for what happened and angrily called for an end to the citywide prohibition.
"If it's costing people's lives to stop them from smoking, let them have their cigarettes," Tony Blake said.
Esaun Pinto, a security officer who once employed Blake at a different company, said he and Blake had discussed the impact of the new law on their jobs.
"We spoke about it often - it's the buzz right now among security officers, especially in nightclub venues. This job is hard enough," Pinto said.
"People that are drinking that are smokers seem to become very agitated when you ask them to put their cigarette out," he added.
O'Looney described the fatal incident somewhat differently.
"The smoking issue was the initial contact, but the homicide seems to be more over the issue of the ejection," he said.
Neighbors, employees and security guards said the crowd at Guernica, a popular East Village night spot known for its disc jockeys, is generally orderly.
"This is never a dangerous club - that's why I don't understand it," Allen said. "I just don't know what went wrong. I just hope others can learn from this so that nobody else gets hurt."
Staff writer Jerome Burdi contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
Cops: Bouncer dies after telling club-goer to take it outside
By Melanie Lefkowitz
STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Jerome Burdi contributed to this story.
April 14, 2003
An East Village nightclub bouncer was fatally stabbed when he tried to enforce the city's new smoking ban yesterday and wound up at the center of a deadly brawl, police said.
"A casualty over a cigarette - it's just senseless," said Richard Allen, owner of Forte Security, which employed bouncer Dana Blake, 32. "I can't make heads or tails of it."
Police said the two alleged attackers, brothers who live in Chinatown, tried to flee the Avenue B club Guernica, but employees chased them down and held them on East Third Street until officers arrived.
Ching Chan, of 22 Mulberry St., and Jonathan Chan, of 138 Suffolk St., were charged with assault, weapons possession and resisting arrest. Further charges may be pending, police said.
Michael O'Looney, a police spokesman, gave the following account:
Blake approached the Chans in the club and told them to stop smoking. One of the brothers said something in response that was difficult to hear over the music. Blake apparently believed Jonathan Chan, 29, was becoming disorderly and he grabbed him by the neck to throw him out. Jonathan Chan grabbed Blake's neck and jumped on the 6-foot-5, 300-pound bouncer with his brother, 31, and two friends. The friends were interviewed by police but not charged.
Blake was stabbed in the lower abdomen during that scuffle, police said. He was rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center at 2:30 a.m., and died 11 hours later.
"It should never have happened - he's so calm and disarming," Allen said. "He's the kind of guy who would go into a situation and try to defuse the situation. He'd never use his hands or violence."
Blake, of Long Island City, worked in security for about a decade, said friends, who described him as a "gentle giant."
His brother, Tony Blake, 45, of Long Island City, said he was a talented artist who loved to draw superhero cartoons and a devoted godfather who believed "no toy was good enough" for his 2-year-old niece.
"We were just praying his big break would come through the arts someday, but it's a tough thing to break into," said Tony Blake, a construction worker. "He's not a bully. He must have tried to talk to these guys."
Friends and relatives blamed the smoking ban for what happened and angrily called for an end to the citywide prohibition.
"If it's costing people's lives to stop them from smoking, let them have their cigarettes," Tony Blake said.
Esaun Pinto, a security officer who once employed Blake at a different company, said he and Blake had discussed the impact of the new law on their jobs.
"We spoke about it often - it's the buzz right now among security officers, especially in nightclub venues. This job is hard enough," Pinto said.
"People that are drinking that are smokers seem to become very agitated when you ask them to put their cigarette out," he added.
O'Looney described the fatal incident somewhat differently.
"The smoking issue was the initial contact, but the homicide seems to be more over the issue of the ejection," he said.
Neighbors, employees and security guards said the crowd at Guernica, a popular East Village night spot known for its disc jockeys, is generally orderly.
"This is never a dangerous club - that's why I don't understand it," Allen said. "I just don't know what went wrong. I just hope others can learn from this so that nobody else gets hurt."
Staff writer Jerome Burdi contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.
