17-year-old stabbed to death after fight at East Harlem restaurant, suspect arrested
NEW YORK — A 17-year-old boy was fatally stabbed Friday after getting into a fight with a man at an East Harlem restaurant.
The suspect, 62-year-old Saul Sanchez, has been arrested and charged with murder.
The victim has been identified as Carlos Rivas, of the Bronx.
Video shows deadly fight outside East Harlem restaurant
Surveillance video shows Rivas and a 22-year-old man walk into K-Street Food on Second Avenue just after 6 p.m. As they're entering the restaurant, they bump into Sanchez at the door.
"Two young guys came in here. He already upset, very upset," said Moon Shin, owner of K-Street Food.
Shin said Sanchez was placing a food order while the two young men stood behind, making comments.
"He got very upset, and he say 'pissing me off' ... But two young guys pushing everywhere, here, there," she said.
What started in the restaurant spilled out onto the sidewalk.
In surveillance video, Sanchez is seen stabbing Rivas in the torso.
"I never see people die, dying, in front of my face," Shin said.
The teen's 22-year-old friend, who police say was stabbed in the left arm, came to his defense, throwing a chair at Sanchez.
Police say that Rivas was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he later died.
Sanchez, who police say was cut in the forehead, left after the fight, then returned to the scene, spoke to cops and was taken into custody. Police later charged Sanchez with murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
Police say it still isn't clear what exactly sparked the fight.
"You can't be arguing with people out here because you never know"
Shin said she was shaken by the deadly attack.
"I'm nervous and I'm scared," she said. "When he hurt ... I was just thinking [about] his mother because I'm a mother, too."
"You can't be arguing with people out here because you never know," said a man named Ray, who is co-owner of the smoke shop next door to K-Street Food.
The deadly stabbing comes just days after a postal worker was stabbed to death after getting into an argument with a woman while ordering food at a Harlem deli. A suspect was arrested and charged with murder in that incident.
