NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 28, 2022) — Elijah Santiago, 25, of the Bronx, NY made his first court appearance since being arrested by New Rochelle Police following a violent stabbing incident in the parking lot at the VIP Country Club on Wednesday night.
Appearing before Judge Jared R. Rice, Santiago was charged with 2 counts of Assault in the First Degree, a 1-B Felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon Fourth Degree, an A Misdemeanor.
Two men, Santiago’s co-workers who provided valet parking service at the club, were seriously injured after each was allegedly cut with a knife by Santiago.
Police say Santiago wielded a red folding knife to slice Semir Muratovic along his lower abdomen, severing one of his external iliac arteries. The external iliac arteries are two major arteries which bifurcate off the common iliac arteries anterior to the sacroiliac joint of the pelvis. He then stabbed Almir Muratovic in the back.
Almir told police after the attack he was holding his brother in his arms, on the ground, attempting to stop his guts from coming out.
Judge Rice held a bail hearing and set bail at $25,000 cash, $100,000 bond and $150,000 partial bond. He scheduled a return date for Santiago on Thursday, May 5 at 9:30 am.
According to his LinkedIN profile, Semir Muratovic is a financial analyst, former student at Iona College, currently enrolled at the Lubin School of Business at Pace University and a part-time Valet Manager at MB&L Parking Solutions.
There was an emotional scene after bail was set involving Santiago and his mother.
Further details follow.
The Felony Complaint filed by the New Rochelle Police Department states:
(Elijah Santiago) the defendant at the above date, time and place, did with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, did cause such injury to such person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument and did with intent to cause physical injury to another person, cause such injury to such person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument when the defendant did take out a red folding knife, a dangerous instrument, and swing it at Semir Muratovic, slicing him along his lower abdomen, severing his external iliac artery, requiring him to be transported to Jacobi Medical Center for treatment where he was operated on and is scheduled for a second operation. The defendant did then swing the red folding knife, a dangerous instrument, at Almir Muratovic, stabbing him in the left upper back area causing a deep laceration that exposed bone requiring stitches. As a result of defendant’s conduct, both victims experienced substantial pain and severe physical injury.
In his deposition given to New Rochelle Police Detective Glen Spinner, Almir Muratovic said he was working last night as a valet at the VIP Country Club with his brother, Semir Muratovic and Elijah Santiago who he described as a co-worker “who I have known for quite a while”.
Almir Muratovic told Detective Spinner that it was a very busy day.
“We had an event. Everything was going well. All of a sudden, my brother goes to get a car. And while I’m in a car, all I saw was Elijah got out, jumped out of the car and my brother fell to the ground. I quickly ran to my brother. I saw him fall right back down as he just got up. I saw Elijah with a knife in his hand. My brother was on the ground, bleeding, with his own guts coming out of his stomach. I then approached Elijah face to face to defend me and my brother after being threatened.”
“After seeing what he had done to my brother, I then jumped on his car and kicked him. I fell over my ankle and quickly got up but before getting up, he tried to poke me with his knife again.”
“Elijah got in his white Ford and drove away,” said Almir Muratovic. “We call 911. Immediately after he had left. They came while me and my friend were holding my brother in our arms, attempting to stop his guts from coming out and bleeding. Ambulance had arrived. And he asked me what happened. Who Elijah was. They asked me if I got hurt. Then I checked my shoulder and there was a deep hole because the knife he had stabbed me with.”
“My shoulder has a hole through I don’t know how much damage was done but I am in a lot of pain after being stabbed in the left shoulder”.
Semir Muratovic has, so far, been unavailable to give a deposition to police. He had surgery overnight and was listed in critical condition. He has since been upgraded to stable condition but is scheduled for a second surgery, according to ADA Philip Mellea of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
The Muratovic brothers were taken from the scene by ambulance to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
Elijah Santiago appeared this afternoon to be arraigned before Judge Jared R. Rice, shackled by the hands, wearing AIR sneakers, dark pants and a white t-shirt. His hair was black, closely cropped, with a thick, long, bushy beard. Santiago did not plead today.
Judge Rice moved on to a bail hearing.
ADA Mellea told Judge Rice that Santiago was a flight risk because he had given a full confession to New Rochelle Police, the People have a very strong case, he does not have any connections to New Rochelle, and given the severity of the crimes and resulting injuries Santiago is facing the mandatory minimum 5-year sentence with the possibility of up to 25 years in prison.
Mellea told Judge Rice he was seeking $100,000 cash bail, $250,000 bond or $500,000 partial bond.
Santiago was represented at the arraignment by Gary Kronkowski, a Legal Aid attorney.
Kronkowski argued that Santiago was not a flight risk. He said Santiago had worked at the VIP Country Club in New Rochelle for about a year and a half, where he was considered to be a good worker.
Kronkowski said there was “a long-simmering beef”’ between Santiago and the Muratovic brothers because the brothers had not been doing their jobs. Samir Muratovic instigated the confrontation by preventing Santiago from getting out of a car, trying to slam the car door on Santiago, who responded by trying to defend himself.
Kronkowski said that Santiago suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder resulting from an incident a couple years ago when Santiago was the victim of a felony gang assault.
Kronkowski said Santiago told him “I’m not the kind of person that gets in trouble” which was borne out by the fact that Santiago was 25 and had no criminal history.
When Kronkowski pointed out Santiago’s mother in the courtroom, Lena Perez stood up. Kronkowski said Santiago was the primary home caregiver for Perez. He said she had problems with her heart and liver, as well as serious diabetes that led to several of her toes being removed. He said his client was a FreedomCare worker who took care of his mother four days a week.
FreedomCare is a program through which family members can be paid through Medicaid as caregivers for other family members.
Kronkowski told Judge Rice that his client told him there was CCTV video at the VIP Country Club and asked ADA Mellea to take steps to preserve the video. ADA Mellea agreed to do so.
Kronkowski asked Judge Rice to release Santiago on his own recognizance or set minimal bail of $500 cash, $1,000 bond or $5,000 partial bond.
ADA Mellea responded to the request for ROR or minimal bail by noting that the police response almost immediately and found two people bleeding on the ground and the only weapon found belonged to Santiago.
Judge Rice set bail at $25,000 cash, $100,000 bond and $150,000 partial bond and scheduled a return date of Thursday, May 5 at 9:30 am.
As the bail conditions were announced, Lena Perez threw up her hands and whimpered.
As court officers led Santiago away, he said, “Can I talk to my mom?” The court officers continued to walk the defendant out of the courtroom as Santiago turned and said, “I love you mom”.
Perez stood up and while looking at her son pointed to the words above the head of Judge Rice.
“In God We Trust. In God We Trust. He will defend you,” said Perez.
As he reached the door leading to the prisoner holding area, Santiago said, “stay healthy.”
Perez turned towards Judge Rice with her hands clasped, “please Judge”.
As court social workers led Perez out of the courtroom, she asked “who’ll take care of me?
Once outside the courtroom, Perez was overwhelmed with emotion and escorted to a chair until she was able to compose herself.
RELATED:
Two People Stabbed at VIP Country Club in New Rochelle, One Victim Critical, Arrest Made
The guy he stabbed is in critical condition. His brother described holding him so his guts wouldn’t come out of his stomach. If this doesn’t seem like attempted murder to you, well idk what to tell you, Bob.
Go outside, get some fresh air. You’re raging for no reason buddy.
Appearing before Judge Jared R. Rice, Santiago was charged with 2 counts of Assault in the First Degree, a 1-B Felony, and Criminal Possession of a Weapon Fourth Degree, an A Misdemeanor.
No attempted murder charge.
See how that works dum-dum.
And no charges have been proven.
And his lawyer offered a self-defense argument.
Ty I’m the uncle of the victims and we hope and pray he gets the max
Based on his first appearance he is looking at 5 year minimum but up to 25 years.
$25k bail for attempted murder because he’s a good worker? God save NY
Is that what the article says? Nope.
Idiot.
I made a connection based on what you wrote, but seeing how aggressive you got based on that, let me clarify for you:
$25k bail for attempted murder? God save NY
So doubling down? No attempted murder charge either. Still an idiot.
Try a reading comprehension class.