BERGEN BEACH, Brooklyn – A man trying to flee the country has been arrested in connection with a dispute over a parking spot that led to a deadly stabbing in Brooklyn late Sunday night.
The ordeal happened just before 11:30 p.m. on East 73rd Street near Avenue M in the Bergen Beach section.
The NYPD said 23-year-old Omari Dahan came home to find his driveway blocked and started honking his horn. A man came out from a nearby home, and they got into a fight.
During this altercation, Dahan’s 28-year-old brother came out of the house to help.
Authorities say the fight then escalated, and both men were stabbed.
Dahan was stabbed in the chest, while his brother was stabbed in the arm.
Omari Dahan died at the hospital. His brother was not seriously injured.
The attacker in the incident fled the scene in a gray Volkswagen Jetta, police said, and officers began working to figure out who was behind the stabbing.
Police said that based on witness statements and evidence at the scene, they developed a person of interest in the case, identified as 41-year-old Jean-Paul Djems.
Detectives placed a travel alert on that man and got a call back later that he had booked a flight on JetBlue to Port au Prince, Haiti.
Officers went to the airport ahead of his flight and were able to arrest him.
He is charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
An Israeli man was killed and his brother wounded during a dispute over a vehicle which had been double-parked in the Bergen Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn early Monday morning.
Omri Dahan, a 23-year-old IDF veteran, was stabbed to death and his brother, 29-year-old Ayal Dahan, wounded during a dispute with a Haitian immigrant who had double-parked, blocking Ormi and Ayal’s car.
The suspected murderer is 41-year-old Djems Jean-Paul, a Haitian immigrant living in Elmont.
Police say the incident began late Sunday night after Ayal Dahan found his driveway blocked by Jean-Paul’s car, which had been illegally parked in front of the driveway.
Neighbors say Ayal Dahan honked his horn for 10 minutes before Jean-Paul came out.
“What happened was, the Jewish [man] came home, the Haitian guy’s car was double-parked in front of his driveway,” Ricky Zawacki, a neighbor, told The New York Daily News. “The guy was beeping for 10 minutes straight and they were ignoring him.”
When Jean-Paul finally came out, Ayal Dahan yelled at him, demanding he move his car.
“As soon as the guy came down to move the car, the Jewish kid got out of the car and started yelling at the man, saying, ‘Move your effing car,’” Zawacki said.
Jean-Paul then struck Ayal Dahan, and a second Haitian man came out to join Jean-Paul.
At that point, Ayal went to his house and asked his brother, Omri, for back up.
As the fight escalated, Ayal struck Jean-Paul with a children’s gate, while one of the Haitians threw a bottle at Ayal.
Jean-Paul then removed a knife from his car and stabbed both Omri and Ayal Dahan. Omri Dahan suffered stab wounds to the chest, while Ayal was stabbed in the arm.
“There was a lot of blood on the sidewalk. It was crazy, it was horrible,” Zawacki said.
Omri was evacuated to Beth Israel Hospital just before midnight, but was declared dead by 12:30 a.m. Monday morning.
Police say Jean-Paul fled the scene of the crime and attempted to flee the country, but was apprehended by authorities. He has been charged with manslaughter, assault, and possession of illegal weapons.