April 23, 2008
Video Sheds Light on Bodega Hammer Attack
Surveillance video from Munchies Bodega in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn shows, somewhat fuzzily, the circumstances that led to the bludgeoning of 15-year-old Bunkless Bovian by the store's owner ten days ago. The owner, Salah Ahmad, was charged with felony assault and Bovian was placed in a medically induced coma at Brookdale Hospital after the incident.
WNBC obtained surveillance video from the night, showing 19-year-old clerk (and Ahmad's nephew) Hazam Kassim confronting an individual. The argument quickly turned physical and three people were eventually fighting with Kassim who claimed he was slashed with a razor. The video also appears to show Bovian just off-camera and alone with the clerk behind the counter, which was rocked so violently most of the merchandise fell to the floor.
As the melee continues, one can see Ahmad rush to the scene and strike Bovian once in the head before the teenager stumbled out of the store. Initial accounts reported Bovian was confronted by Ahmad over alleged shoplifting; Bovian's parents said their son was arguing with a friend in the store when he was assaulted by Ahmad.
Ahmad's lawyer thinks the police should go after the teenagers, "Mr. Ahmad is not a vigilante. Mr. Ahmed was a victim in this case. And when you look at the entire videotape and you see Mr. Ahmed assaulted even after his nephew was assaulted, he did show remarkable restraint given the circumstances."
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Bovian, who's family said he was a budding basketball star, was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a skull fracture.
Relatives have insisted the teen was wrongly targeted and had been in the store only to resolve an argument between his friends and the clerk.
Looks to me like the little thugs got what was coming to them. Lucky for Ahmad that the surveillance cameras were working.
How high do you have to be to name your kid Bunkless Bovian?
Where's Al Sharpton?
Why did I figure that you two would be the first to comment? It must be a lovely existence to continually stew in your cesspool of bigotry.
From the appearances, it seems like the kid and his friends did something stupid. They probably deserve some sort of punishment. However, smashing someone's skull with a hammer seems a bit excessive, even in a great civilized country like America.
Regardless, it's probably more prudent to jump to conclusions when the facts have all surfaced.
Where's Rush Limbaugh?
Where's Waldo?
STOP.. Hammer Time!
As sketchy as some bodega operators are, I can't see any of them attacking someone if they didn't feel they were in danger. And his name is Bunkless Bovian! Case closed.
If Bunkless thought more than he would not have Thunkless.
Everydaydreamer would you prefer that Ahmad shot Thunkless Bunkless?
Well, there you have it.
No Justice, No Peace!
No Justice, No Peace!
No Justice, No Peace!
Why do these guys always have to be budding basketball stars? Why can't they be like, good at math or really good at drawing still life instead?
typical of criminals families claim all sorts of things. we need population control like china but for criminals.
It must be a lovely existence to continually stew in your cesspool of bigotry
Not sure how or why you acuse me of bigotry in my comment. the video pretty clearly undercuts the spin the family was putting on this.
Regardless, it's probably more prudent to jump to conclusions when the facts have all surfaced.
who's jumping to conclusions? again, the video pretty much backs up the store owner's account.
Under the circumstances - multiple attackers - it was probably reasonable for him to feel he needed some kind of weapon, and in coming to the defense of his nephew, he probably just grabbed what was around.
This wasn't some guy walking around with a hammer randomly attacking black kids, or even an overly aggressive store owner using unreasonable force against shoplifters.
The video seems to convincingly establish that these kids weren't just grabbing a candy bar on the way out the door, they were attacking the nephew.
'even in a great civilized country like America.'
you may not want to use a loaded term like 'civilized' when characterizing america. check the u.s. prison population (highest in the world), then go read your dostoyevsky.
My Tribute to Bunkless Buckingham Bunker the 3rd
Can't touch this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9nptjUs9FM
eyekantspel, you're correct that my accusation of bigotry against you was misplaced. I confused you with another frequent commentator. My apologies to you, as you don't seem to have a racial ax to grind in the posts above.
However, "Spear Chucker" is a horse of a different color.
Regardless, I agree with you that the spin of the family seems wrong. At the same time, we don't know what circumstances led to the attack. It seems that there were words between the two right before the attack.
Even then, the video appears to show more wrestling than actual physical violence. At least, until the second person joins in the melee. Even then, once the uncle pulls the boy away from his nephew, it seems that the kid is going to run away. At that point, the kid gets hit in the back of the head with a hammer.
I'm suggesting that there might be more to the story than either side is promoting at this point. I don't buy the garbage about the kid being a "budding basketball star" anymore than I buy the assertion that we are in Iraq because we care about democracy...
Further, a hammer? I mean, really. That's like saying that I see some friends in a hand-to-hand scuffle and I grab a knife or a machete. A hammer does serious damage. I cannot say what else was available to the man, but geez, a hammer? These do not appear to be gang bangers or kids with criminal histories, so how can one assume that they are "thugs" who "deserve what they get?"
What back story, would you say, justifies three low-lifes going behind the store's counter and punching and cutting the sandwich maker with a razor blade?
These people have this built-in mechanism within our society where even if they perpetrate a violent crime, many of them still end up being the "victim" somehow.
And that's what happened here. The uncle fought off three thugs who attacked his nephew and the uncle is charged. Regarding the savage with his head smashed, Boo-Fucking-Hoo.
the uncle made the fatal mistake of using a hammer. if he would of just shot and killed all 3, this wouldn't be a big deal. they wouldn't be complaining now.
what a sin if the store owner does time for defending himself. I'm not happy the kid got hurt, but if you physically assault someone, whatever they do back to you, in my mind is justified.
those kids deserved more than that...
arsguide, if the kid was assaulting the bodega people, I AM happy he got hurt...
The store owner should have sprinkled some crack on bunkless and called it a day.
Just yesterday I was in my local bodega and these young girls come in all rowdy and start yelling and making fun of the bodega workers. I was pretty peeved. I almost kicked them out.
Dude, I know that you are a dreamer but:
"... appears to show more wrestling than actual physical violence ...."
Wrestling IS violence, cripes, entering my physical space is violence as far as I'm concerned. TOUCHING me? - world of hurt, hammers would be mild response. These bodega guys were being ATTACKED.
These little thugs should be very glad they tried this in a city that disarmed it citizens and left them to the mercy of the criminals. If they had tried that here where we are allowed our constituational rights, the owner would have been properly armed and at least one of them would be dead - possibly more.
Not much of a loss, if you think about it.
Yesterday some idiot kid was waiting at a red light with two other kids at a street corner to cross the street. I was in a car ready to drive out into the intersection and we had a green light. As our car aligns with the kid (who clearly sees us), he steps out and proceeds to impress his little firends with his audacity by stepping in FRONT of our moving car.
Why? I have no idea. My husband was driving and honked loudly and the kid quickly stepped back and laughed. If we had hit him, we would probably be blamed, put in jail, etc, etc while the family whined on national TV about what a great wonderful son they had, blah, blah, blah. If the kid had died, we'd be up sh*t's creek.
I say stupid kids deserve what they get and apparently that's exactly what this kid did.