Staten Island stabbing suspect captured in Illinois

The man who police are seeking to question in connection with the fatal stabbing of Antonio Lacertosa. He is identified as Redinal Dervishaj.

The Albanian gangster sought in the killing of a groom-to-be at a Staten Island restaurant was captured Tuesday in Illinois, police sources said.

Redinel Dervishaj, 35, was nabbed in Palo Hills, Ill. by the NYPD and local authorities.

One source said Dervishaj has relatives who live in the area.

Dervishaj allegedly stabbed Antonio Lacertosa to death during a brawl that erupted the night of the victim’s engagement party early Saturday, law enforcement sources said.

Dervishaj has been tied to violence before. He was shot in the arm during a shoot-out with reputed Albanian gangsters in Queens in 2007.

“He was always nasty with an attitude,” said Dervishaj’s former next-door neighbor, Mike Nuzzolo, 56. “He was always yelling and screaming at somebody. I kept the windows closed so I wouldn’t have to hear him. He was just unpleasant.”

Lacertosa, 27, and his fiancee were celebrating their engagement with family and friends at Espana Restaurant and Lounge in Annadale when the fight erupted outside between the eatery’s workers and the brick-layer’s group, sources said.

The spat was caught on surveillance footage, but the fatal stabbing happened outside the camera’s range, a law enforcement source said.

“Everything before and after is on [surveillance video\],” the source said.

Lacertosa’s fiancee, Bridgette Schneider, 24, saw her man get killed, a police source said.

In 2007, the Daily News reported that Dervishaj and another Albanian gangster went to a Ridgewood, Queens, home to shake an ex-business partner down for cash.

But the former partner pulled out a .357 revolver and opened fire on the pair — striking Dervishaj in the arm and mortally wounding his cohort, police sources said at the time.

The gunman, Lulzim Kupi, 42, was later charged with murder and weapons possession. Dervishaj later pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny and was sentenced to time served, sources said.

Back on Staten Island, Nuzzolo said he hasn’t seen Dervishaj at the Stapleton house since he moved out of the basement apartment overnight last summer.

“When you move out at night, you’re usually running from something,” he said. “He just disappeared. I was glad to see him go. I’m sure everyone was.

Police arrest suspect in Staten Island stabbing death: MyFoxNY.com