New York city police have taken into custody several suspects for questioning related to the murder of Mencahm Stark, according to a law enforcement source.
Stark, a wealthy businessman, was kidnapped after he left his Rutledge Street office in Williamsburg on Jan. 2, surveillance video showed. Two men forced Stark into a minivan.
A police source with knowledge of the investigation, said, that it seems the intend was a simply robbery, not as originally speculation a contractor who stark owned money might be involved.
No arrest, or charges have been made, and no official information from the NYPD has been released.
UPDATED THURSDAY MAY 1
Cops arrested a Crown Heights man on murder charges Wednesday night in the January death of Brooklyn slumlord Menachem Stark, police said.
Kendel Felix, 26, told investigators that he and an unidentified accomplice had only wanted to scare the businessman when they accidently killed him during a Jan. 2 abduction outside his Williamsburg office.
“He owes me money!” the accomplice said moments before the kidnapping, according to Felix’s alleged confession.
Felix was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday night and was being held at the 77th Precinct station house on Utica Avenue.evening and was expected to be charged with murder.
Two other men were also taken into custody Wednesday but
They made no statements to police and asked for lawyers, who could not be reached for comment.
Police were still searching for his alleged accomplice and two others.
Using a borrowed Dodge Caravan, Felix and his cohort drove up to Stark on Rutledge Street amid a snowstorm and forced him inside kicking and screaming, sources said.
Felix said he drove off while the accomplice sat on Stark’s chest trying to get him under control.
But Stark stopped breathing, and the hapless kidnappers panicked when they realized he was dead, Felix allegedly said.
They picked up the accomplice’s brother and another man for help, according to the sources — but the fourth man jumped out as soon as he realized there was a body inside.
Then the accomplice— who Felix said had planted a cellphone with a tracking device on Stark’s Lexus SUV, and even changed the battery once — left, leaving Felix and the other man to deal with the body. They drove to a gas station in Great Neck, LI, where one or both men filled a large soda bottle with gasoline and poured it on Stark’s body before setting it ablaze in a Dumpster there.
Cops later recovered the minivan, which had traces of Stark’s blood inside.
Detectives seized computers and cellphones from the suspect, and took a pair of work boots from an apartment in a bid to match them to distinctive shoes seen on surveillance video.
Cops believe the kidnapping was an attempt to get money from Stark, who allegedly stiffed one of the men on a bill for some construction work.
Sources had said the debt was around $20,000, but that could not be confirmed on Wednesday.
Two other men were brought in by cops Wednesday along with Felix, but one was let go and the other was charged in an unrelated matter.
Cops went to Stark’s Rutledge Street home on Wednesday to tell his wife, Bashie, about the suspects. The family refused to speak with reporters.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said cops hope to have the case wrapped up quickly.
Rabbi David Niederman, who heads the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, said the community was relieved.
“We are extremely happy and hope that those who committed this crime will be charged and formally arrested,” he said.
