By Tom Nicholson
By Tom Nicholson
Enrique Maldonado, 22, of 10-55 Wycoff Ave. was arrested Jan. 17 along with six other men after the gang fought with a group of Russian construction workers outside a Brooklyn bodega on Jan. 13. Three of the injured workers were taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where 42-year-old Valery Charnavus died a week later, according to a spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes.
Charnavus, who lived at 19-19 79th St. in Brooklyn, came from Russia four months ago.
A grand jury was reviewing the case this week to vote on whether to prosecute Maldonado and five others involved in the case on a charge of second degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon, the DA's spokesman said.
Maldonado was being held in Riker's Island on $25,000 bail, a corrections facility spokesman said.
A second Ridgewood man, Wilfredo Ramos, 32, of 57-84 Cabbot Rd. was charged with gang assault, assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the incident, police said.
Another Queens man, Roman Ortiz, 21, of 97-15 75th St. in Ozone Park faced the same three charges, according to police.
Also arrested on murder charges in the incident were Hiram Valentin, 20; Michael Alavarez, 20; Luis Torres, 26; and Angel Sanabria, 20, all of Bushwick, according to the DA's spokesman.
According to police, the melee was sparked at about 1 a.m. when Charnavus and some of his friends were leaving a bodega on Knickerbocker Avenue when a group of Hispanic men confronted them.
“Apparently the group of Hispanic men began yelling ethnic slurs at the Russian guys, telling them to get out of their neighborhood,” a police spokesman said.
The Hispanic men mistook the Russians for Polish immigrants and hollered out anti-Polish slurs at the men, which led to a clash between the groups, police said.
The Russians and Hispanics reportedly exchanged blows in a fistfight until a car drove up to the scene and someone in it handed a baseball bat to one of the Hispanic men. At least one, perhaps several of the men, used the bat to hit Charnavus, police said.
A spokeswoman for the medical examiner said the autopsy on Charnavus showed there were skull fractures and brain injuries and the cause of death was homicide.
Two of the Russians were stabbed during the altercation. Those men were taken to Elmhurst Hospital where they were treated and released.
Reach reporter Tom Nicholson by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by calling 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
