Staten Island police today are investigating the death of Antonio Lacertosa, a 27-year-old union bricklayer who was fatally stabbed with a knife early Saturday morning after joining an escalating argument outside the restaurant where he was celebrating his engagement, the New York Times reports.
Lacertosa and his fiance, 24-year-old Bridgette Schneider, had gathered with friends and family at Staten Island's Espana restaurant late Friday night.
According to initial reports from eyewitnesses, the groom-to-be stepped outside around 2 a.m. for a reason that was not immediately clear and got into an altercation with a man who may have been an employee of the restaurant.
Shortly after, the man "goes back into the place and gets a knife and stabs [Lacertosa]," a law enforcement official told the Times on the condition of anonymity.
The New York Post reports that the argument outside the restaurant erupted after two of Lacertosa's brothers were thrown out of the restaurant for getting in a rowdy dispute. When the pair urinated outside on a wall outside the restaurant, managers confronted them and a vicious argument began.
Lacertosa reportedly came outside to break up the quarrel and was "stabbed in the torso with a butcher knife," according to the New York Post. He was rushed to Staten Island University Hospital South where he died.
No arrest have been made in the case, but police sources told the Staten Island Live that they have named a suspect in the case who is described as a white male in his 30s, approximately 6 feet, 2 inches tall, with blond hair and a light complexion.
Anyone wishing to offer information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
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