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Teen Explains Hammer-Attack Bodega Brawl to Jury
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 28, 2009
Modified Apr 28, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 28, 2009
Modified Apr 28, 2009
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East New York bodega clerk Salah Ahmed could face 25 years in prison for hitting Bunkless Bovian (who was 14 at the time) in the head with a hammer during a fight in his store last April. But Monday's testimony from Bovian's 16-year-old friend Joshua Bloomfield may bolster Ahmed's self-defense plea, because the teen admitted to helping spark the melee that left his friend in a coma.
It's still unclear exactly how the fight originated, but Bloomfield told jurors that another clerk—Ahmed's nephew—insulted his mother, so, "I went back there and said what I had to say to him. He put his hands on me—I grabbed him back." According to the Daily News, he testified that the clerk was threatening him with a knife and a 2-foot long stick. Several teens were involved in the ensuing brawl, which culminated with Ahmed emerging from a back room and hitting Bovian on the head with a hammer.
Bovian, a talented basketball player who has mostly recovered but still has headaches, insists he was just trying to break up a fight. However, Ahmed explains, "I heard my nephew calling out, 'Help me!' I had no phone or nothing, so I said, 'Let me go defend my family, defend my business.'" Last month, his wife's cousin and the cousin's son were murdered in their bodega in Crown Heights.
Tagged
bodega
deli
east new york
fight
hammer
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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