NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Connecticut doctor was kidnapped outside the Brooklyn Mirage and held captive for days by a man who threatened his life and stole his money, police said—another worrying incident involving the popular concert venue in East Williamsburg.
The shocking ordeal started on Saturday, July 21, when the unidentified doctor met friends for a show at the Mirage. The night took a turn for the worse when the victim got into a cab outside the venue to take him to his car parked several blocks away, according to a police report obtained by the Norwalk newspaper The Hour.
Not only was there another passenger in the cab but the driver refused to take the doctor to his parked car, instead insisting they go to an “after-hours party in Manhattan,” the report said.
Outside the party, the doctor refused to pay for the ride and was nearly punched by the driver before the other passenger, who went by the name “Tony G’s,” intervened and took him to the party, where he claimed to be his “protection,” according to the report.
The bizarre night continued with Tony G’s insisting they take a Lyft to Brooklyn to get the doctor’s car so he could show him his neighborhood in the Bronx, according to the police report, which said at one point he threatened to kill the doctor but was also smiling and laughing.
He forced his victim to go on a “shopping spree throughout the Bronx” and withdraw cash at ATMs, all while handing out the cash to “people and his friends in the neighborhood,” police said. The two also visited a barbershop and a strip club.
While all this was happening, the doctor, who works at Norwalk Hospital, was taking calls from patients and staff. That Monday morning he told his captor that he needed to go to the hospital where he worked or his absence would raise suspicion.
The man agreed and called an accomplice to drive them the roughly 45 miles, as he was unable to operate the doctor's stick-shift car, police said.
They arrived at the hospital at 3:40 a.m. When the doctor went inside, he told security what happened and police responded to arrest the two men, who were still out in the doctor’s car, according to the report.
“Tony G’s” turned out to be Anthony E. Benjamin, 43, of the Bronx, while his accomplice was identified as Steve Daley, 50, of Vernon, New York, police said.
Benjamin faces charges of second-degree kidnapping and possession of a controlled substance, while Daley was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping.
Benjamin’s bond was set at $1 million and Daley’s at $250,000, but both men were ultimately released after they promised to appear in court in Stamford on Sept. 19.
It wasn't immediately clear what happened to the cab driver who picked the doctor up outside the Mirage.
News of the kidnapping is also the more concerning as it comes after two New York City men, both 27, turned up dead in Newtown Creek after they visited the Mirage. John Castic's body was found in the waterway on Aug. 1, a few days after he disappeared. Karl Clemente's remains were also discovered there a few days after he went missing June 11.
While police have said the evidence so far doesn’t point to foul play in either of their deaths, Mirage concertgoers have expressed concerns about the safety of people after late-night shows, noting unlicensed drivers often hang around the mostly industrial area trying to get rides from patrons.
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