Posted on 05/25/2006 12:17:01 PM PDT by freepatriot32
NEW YORK - A bouncer was arrested Thursday on charges he shot four people _ killing one _ in an angry frenzy outside a Manhattan nightspot.
Stephen Sakai, 30, of Brooklyn, was awaiting arraignment on murder, assault and weapons charges.
Police also were investigating whether Sakai was involved in three other fatal shootings, law enforcement officials said Thursday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation had not been completed, said the suspect made statements implicating himself in those slayings.
One of the victims had worked as a bouncer at a topless bar in Brooklyn called Sweet Cherry, one official said. His body was found Nov. 16 in a basement apartment; he had been shot in the back of the head.
Police said the confrontation Tuesday night involved a group of patrons who had been ushered out of Opus 22, a stylish disc jockey lounge in a converted warehouse in the Chelsea neighborhood.
A 25-year-old New Jersey man was shot in the head and died in the street, a few steps from the lounge's velvet rope.
Sakai passed a criminal history check when he obtained a license to work as a security guard, but did not have a harder-to-get license allowing him to carry a gun on the job, a spokesman for New York's Department of State said.
Armed guards in New York are required to complete a 47-hour firearms training course, compared to eight hours of training for unarmed guards.
It was unclear what prompted the gunplay late Tuesday. Some witnesses told television news reporters that the bouncer appeared to snap when one of the ejected patrons became belligerent.
Gustavo Cuadros, of Red Bank, N.J., was killed. Three other men, all in their 20s, suffered gunshot wounds to their necks, backs or legs. One was in critical condition, police said. The injuries of the two others were not believed to be life-threatening.
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Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.
I didn't want to be drunk in PUBLIC..I wanted to be drunk in a BAR...they threw me into PUBLIC...arrest them!!!
A lot of bouncers are just plain buttheads. Let get off on the pathetic small amount of power they have. One here in Portland killed a partron a few years ago, beat him to death after kicking him out. Goons. I had one threaten me when I was taking pictures on the sidewalk in front of a club in downtown portland. I pulled out my cell phone and told him I would be happy to call 911 and let the police explain to him that I had ever right to take pictures on a public street. He backed down, but not until making threats. I sent a very polite letter to the owners of the club and he no longer works there. (Pointing out the liability of having a loose cannon on the staff, noting that at least I had now gone on record to them in case anything ever happened...).
Ended up getting 90 years to life.
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