A customer at a Queens deli is in critical condition on a ventilator after he was beaten and put in a chokehold by two workers in a clash over his sandwich order, police said Monday.
The workers have been arrested for felony assault — and prosecutors say the deli’s surveillance cameras were tampered with in the wake of the beatdown.
The workers are claiming self defense and say the victim falsely claimed to have a gun. But a witness told cops he never heard the victim mention a gun, prosecutors said.
The drama began 5:10 a.m. Sunday at Pickles & Pies Food Market & Deli on Beach 116th St. in Rockaway Park when James Keena showed up with his girlfriend to order a sandwich. Unhappy with his order, he demanded workers remake it, according to prosecutors.
A lawyer for one of the workers described Keena “an irate customer” who routinely shows up at the deli “inebriated.”
Tensions quickly escalated Sunday, with the co-workers trying to eject him. One later denied to cops a claim he said he had threatened to “piss in” Keena’s fries.
Keena hit his head on a counter after worker Jorge Hernandez allegedly shoved him, then grabbed him around the neck and pinned him to the floor while co-worker Saber Abuhamra allegedly repeatedly kicked and punched Keena in the head and stomach.
A witness to the early Sunday confrontation told police Keena started having seizures and bleeding from his mouth during the assault.
The chokehold and beatdown went on for several minutes after Keena lost consciousness, seized up and started convulsing, the witness told police.
Police arrested Hernandez, 23, and Abuhamra, 34, at the scene. Both are charged with felony assault and strangulation
And both are claiming self-defense, contending Keena told them he had a gun. No gun was recovered.
Still wearing their deli shirts, the two workers were ordered held on $30,000 bail during their Monday morning arraignment in Queens Criminal Court.
The deli’s video surveillance system appears to have been compromised, Assistant District Attorney Robin Kwalbrun said in court, noting police found the system ripped out of the wall and the witness said he saw the cashier turn it off when the fight started.
Hernandez defended his actions.
“I don’t know if I was nervous because maybe I got him too strong — I remember I took him from here,” Hernandez later told authorities as he pointed to his neck. “I don’t want to hurt nobody. I want to protect myself.”
“I had my arm around his chest and the neck,” he added. “I used my other hand to hold him in place. He stopped fighting. He wasn’t resisting. I was trying to protect him because [Abuhamra] was punching him.”
Abuhamra in his statement said he was trying to play peacemaker by calming Keena down only to hear him claim to have a gun.
His lawyer said Abuhamra saw Keena with his hands in his pants and was convinced he was about to pull out a gun. The lawyer also said his Abuhamra’s hands show no indication that he punched Keena.