Teen Explains Hammer-Attack Bodega Brawl to Jury

Still from surveillance video; inset photo of Bovian

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.

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By John Del Signore in News on April 28, 2009 11:39 AM

Comments [rss]

Barbj8

Bunkless was a little boy who came from a large family. His father and mother shared one bed. His 5 brothers slept in one single bed with nary an inch of space between them. His 3 sisters, rather on the large side, hung over the edges of the little bed they shared. And alas, the little boy was Bunkless.

Snoopy

That is a tragic tale. Thanks for updating the story.

Snoopy

And a lot of people on this forum thought "Baby Hitler" was an inappropriate name.

Past Taliban

If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the morning all over this land.

Then I'd go find GW Bush and hammer him in the evening.

breaknight

I mean look, I feel bad for the kid if he really was just trying to break up a fight, but I think you give the bodega owner a pass on this one, and maybe this whole incident makes little Bunkless think twice about who he hangs out with and where.

breaknight

Bunkless? For real?

Toby von Meistersinger

The guy who hammered this scumbag should have gotten a medal instead of a trial, which just seems to be something to get Charles J. Hynes some votes.

Rocknrope

Despite his name, it sounds like he's full of bunk.

Papercutninja

You thought it was such a clever line that you had to post it 3 times?

You thought it was such a clever line that you had to post it 3 times?

You thought it was such a clever line that you had to post it 3 times?

Rocknrope

Grrrr...can someone fix these multiposts? Or find out why it's happening?

Global Wombat

Three strikes, pal.

Rocknrope

Despite his name, it sounds like he's full of bunk.

Rocknrope

Despite his name, it sounds like he's full of bunk.

babyhitler

Didn't these storeclerk bitches ever watch Menace II society? never insult a black dude's mother that's trying to rob you under your breath or you will get shot.

Snoopy

I guess you can say something about his father without a smackdown though, considering the individual probably has no knowledge of who he might be.

books

The police wont protect you - and you cant even protect yourself.

F that.

You attack my family member. You will get hit in the head with a hammer. If you're the friend of the person hitting my family member and you're standing in the way, you too will get hit with a hammer.

Theres right and wrong. This guy did the right thing. If he didnt his family member would be the one in the coma.

Rob T Firefly

If you kidnap my girlfriend and bring her with you to the top of an arrangement of ladders and iron girders, from where you roll barrels at me and the surrounding explosive oil drums, you will get hit with a hammer.

Bottomless Chips

Completely agree. Fighting back is the only way to deter future behavior, too.

hotstepper

let the video debunk the testimony.

OsamaBinCrosby

"Bunkless Bovian"?? Is that his real name, or a clever alias? Oh, to have been the proverbial fly on the wall as his parents were choosing names...."Edward? Carlos? AH! BUNKLESS! BUNKLESS BOVIAN!!" So sorry little Bunkless is suffering headaches....

Trilby16

Wait, someone's name is Bunkless Bovian? Gosh. I wish I was still a writer so I could use that in a story. Bunkless Bovian... I'm going to have that stuck in my head all day. And it's really odd because, where I grew up, to get hit on the head was to get "bunked." Sorry, I'm all distracted by that name...