Results tagged “stephensakai”

Stephen Sakai, who was convicted of shooting four Chelsea clubgoers, killing one, was sentenced to 90 years to life yesterday. Sakai had claimed he shot the clubgoers in self-defense, but Manhattan Assistant D.A> Joan Illuzzi Orbon told the judge that Sakai (who was already found guilty of two Brooklyn murders and sentenced to 50 years to life) "needs to be in prison for the rest of his life so society can be safe from one more random sicko." One of his victims, Julian Quadros, who is now paralyzed from the shooting outside Opus 22 where Sakai worked and whose brother Gustavo was killed in the shooting, said, "He's a coward ... What he did to my brother - you have to be a coward to not be able to face somebody, to shoot somebody in the back of the head for no reason." Sakai's lawyer said she would appeal the verdict.

Stephen Sakai, the bouncer on trial for shooting four clubgoers, killing one, claims he was defending himself that night in 2006. The Daily News reports that he told the court that one of the men had a gun, "If I didn't use the gun I'm dead. If I do use the gun I get to see tomorrow." He also said of fatally shooting the wounded man's brother, claiming the brother was reaching for the gun, "I'm not waiting for this person to get up - I pull the trigger. That guy gets up, he's shooting me." However, prosecutors say he's a cold-blooded killer. And when police arrested him, they realized he was wanted for earlier murders. He was tried for those crimes last year (he testified with a fake Asian accent and jury found him guilty of two murders. He was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.

Stephen Sakai was sentenced to 50 years to life after his conviction of murdering two men he worked with; he was acquitted in a third killing. The bouncer has yet to stand trial for the 2006 shooting of several patrons outside of the Chelsea nightclub. Sakai was convicted of stabbing 56-year-old Wayne Tyson to death in September 2005 and then executing Edwin Mojica with a shot to the back of the head just two months later.

Steven Sakai, the bouncer who went on a shooting rampage in front of Opus 22 in Chelsea last year, was found guilty of two other murders yesterday and acquitted in a third killing. From the accounts we've read, Sakai was his own worst enemy throughout the legal process, beginning with implicating himself in three killings as police questioned him about his role in the May 2006 shooting of four patrons outside the club where he...

In May of 2006, a bouncer at Opus West 22nd Street was arrested after shooting four clubgoers, killing one of them. Then it turned out that Stephen Sakai was possibly connected to three other murders of associates from when he worked at a strip club in Brooklyn. Yesterday, Sakai took the stand in his trial for the three Brooklyn murders. And, boy, to be on that jury. The Post reports that he used a fake...

They say New York is home to a million stories, and so far this year, we've published 7021 of them here on Gothamist. So in case you missed any of those, let's take a little stroll back in time, and review the most significant stories the past 12 months, shall we? Here's part one of a semi-chronological look at 2006; part two will go up tomorrow:

Is it just us or does there seem to be more club-related violence lately? Last night, two women were shot at Crobar. The Post says that a man "pulled out a gun and started shooting," forcing the club to be shut down around 10:20PM. The two women are in stable condition and the police are still looking for the gunman.

Back in May, a fight between a Chelsea bouncer and patrons turned deadly when the bouncer apparently drew his gun, killing one patron and injuring the others. Then it turned out that Stephen Sakai had connections to three other Brooklyn deaths, and now, officials say that he will also be indicted for those murders. An anonymous source tells the NY Times that the indictments will be made public today, though Sakai's lawyer did not know of the charges. Sakai is pleading not gulity to the charges in the Manhattan incident outside his old employer, Opus 22.

As the city examines how to regulate bouncers, the NYPD revealed that it found 41 "unlicensed security guards" working at 42 bars last weekend. And some of the bouncers had "previous arrest records for everything from rape to illegal gun possession and drug charges," according to the Post. The City Council has been holding hearings about tougher regulation, and bar owners are cooperative, but want regulations to apply to security personnel only (so a server or bartender could have a criminal record?). The legislation would give the police and Department of Consumer Affairs the power to shut down an establishment with unlicensed bouncers or bouncers with records; the NYPD is also looking to define a guard as "anyone who might be called upon to break up a fight, such as a host or hostess, and making bar owners keep detailed records of who is on duty at any given time."

- And an L train crashed at the end of the line in Canarsie - WNBC is quick to report that the train isn't computer-operated at that point

There's a rather wild NY Times article about how the Sunset Park strip club, Sweet Cherry, has managed to stay open, despite repeated attempts from the city to shut it down - it's like the Teflon Cherry. And these days, more and more strip clubs may have to shut down, due to proposed changes to the zoning law - the Times has a graphic of 21 strip clubs in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, including Scores. But Sweet Cherry has been able to stay open and probably will after the zoning laws, in spite of "two civil actions by the Police Department, voluminous criminal charges and neighborhood protests." Incidents include drug sales, an off-duty police officer getting stabbed outside, hiring an underage dancer (who said she had been raped), being called a house of prostitution and dancers attacking each other (!). The neighborhood, naturally, has been pretty upset that the club has managed to stay open, with the area full of churches and ripe for redevelopment.

Stephen Sakai, the bouncer for Chelsea club Opus 22 who witnesses say shot four men, killing one of htem, tells both the Daily News and Post that he was not the shooter. And more over, he's "not the person [the NYPD is] making" him out to be: He's actually calm and loves Chaucer, Taosim and karate! And that he didn't shoot Gustavo Cuadros on Tuesday night, though he did have a gun in his possession - it was actually a "mystery gunman" in the crowd who fired the shots. And then there are the rumors that Sakai had implicated himself in three other murders from last year: Apparently the police questioned him for 21 hours, but Sakai says the cops made him sign a blank piece of paper before he could talk to a lawyer.

- And good luck with the traffic, all of you heading out of town for Memorial Day Weekend!

A bouncer at Opus 22 on West 22nd Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues, shot four clubgoers, killing one of them, late last night. Bouncer Stephen Sakai is now in police custody, and is being questioned in the strange, violent incident. Witnesses say that a drunk patron was refusing to leave or refusing to pay a cover and got into an argument with Sakai. Sakai then shot him "point-blank in the chest," causing one of the man's friends to yell "Why did you shoot my friend?" Sakai allegedly replied, "You want some, too" and shot that friend and others before running away. The police, who came to the club in riot gear and then used helicopters and police dogs to search for the shooter, apprehended Sakai in Brooklyn a few hours later.