Police arrested a man for fatally stabbing 23-year-old Omari Dahan in the chest and knifing his older brother in the arm over a parking spot on E. 73rd Street on Aug. 13.
Dahan, a former Israeli soldier according to the Daily News, returned to his home between Avenues L and M at about 11:30 pm when he saw a car from his neighbor’s house was blocking his driveway, police and locals said.
Dahan started honking his horn and then confronted the 41-year-old suspect, who lives in Canarsie, about how he was fed up with his neighbors and his guests constantly blocking his driveway, according to E. 73rd Street resident Ricky Zawacki.
The argument escalated and turned physical, and Dahan awoke his 28-year-old brother from inside the house, police and neighbors said.
The men continued yelling, with each throwing punches at the other, said Zawacki.
At some point the suspect allegedly stabbed Dahan and his brother, according to authorities.
Emergency responders transported both brothers to Beth Israel Hospital, where doctors pronounced the younger Dahan dead. His older brother was in stable condition, police said.
The whole thing should never have happened — especially over something so minor as a parking space, said Zawacki.
“I saw the kid got stabbed. It was absolutely ridiculous, it was horrible, should never have went down like that,” he said. “I never witnessed something so horrific like that before, all over a parking spot.”
The tight-knit community is disturbed by what happened, said the president of the Georgetown Civic Association.
“I was deeply saddened and disturbed to learn of the fatal stabbing on East 73rd Street. Our quiet community was shaken last night over a parking dispute which ended with a young man being killed. This violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our community,” said Adam Diamond, who also lives on the same block.
“The Georgetown Civic sends condolences to the victim’s family. As someone who lives on the block where the incident took place, I have to commend the NYPD for their swift response, which included having a helicopter look for the perpetrator,” Diamond added.
Cops cuffed the suspect at the airport as he was trying to flee the country to Haiti on Aug. 14, and charged him with manslaughter, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
