Brooklyn slumlord Menachem Stark was shadowed for two weeks
by his attackers — and one of them boldly lay in wait for him on a Williamsburg
street for several hours before his violent, deadly abduction, law enforcement
sources told The Post.
Newly released surveillance footage shows the thug parking
the white Dodge Caravan with Ohio license plates that was used in the
kidnapping and murder in front of 315 Rutledge St., just down the block from
Stark’s real estate office, shortly before 5 pm on Jan. 2.
Stark was attacked, bound with duct-tape and thrown into the
same van by two men shortly after 11:30 that night.
At one point after parking the van, the man can be seen
leaving the vehicle and walking to the corner of Broadway and Rutledge, steps
from Stark’s front door, before turning a corner and disappearing from the
camera’s view.
“He was definitely casing the guy,’’ a source said of the
thug, who is wearing a light-colored plaid jacket with a knit cap pulled down
low over his head.
The man, who’s also wearing jeans and sneakers, comes back
into the video frame a few minutes later, and returns to the van. He was still
sitting there hours later, according to sources.
Witnesses have described the Caravan driver as white, of
apparently European descent and between 5-foot-10 and 6 feet tall.
The video is one of several examined by NYPD detectives
since Stark’s charred body was found last week in a Great Neck dumpster.
Investigators have interviewed several witnesses who
recalled seeing the parked van and were able to give a description of the
driver.
The same man appears on other videos as far back as Dec. 19,
sources said, lurking in Stark’s Williamsburg neighborhood.
Stark’s widow has told investigators she saw a minivan
matching the description parked near the family’s home about a week before her
husband was grabbed.
Cops are now combing toll booth surveillance videos, as well
as auto repair shop and rental car records in hope of getting more information
about the van.
It’s also possible that a third accomplice was inside the
van the night Stark was snatched off the street, and served as the driver,
sources said.
Public records show Stark and business partner Israel
Perlmutter were deeply in debt, owing more than $40 million to creditors in
defaults on borrowed money. Stark and his partner also owe more than $1 million
to a loan shark, Perlmutter told police, according to a source.
Detectives are looking into the possibility Stark was
targeted for a professional hit ordered by one of his many creditors, sources
said.
Stark’s abduction was also caught on video, but the blinding
snowstorm obscured his assailants’ faces and license plate.
Also Wednesday, frustrated cops said they believe they would
have been able to stop the attackers before they left Brooklyn if they had been
alerted earlier to Stark’s disappearance.
Stark’s brother-in-law reported him missing just before
midnight to Shomrim, the neighborhood civilian patrol, after family members saw
the video footage, relatives told The Post.
Shomrin did not tell the NYPD until nearly 2 a.m.
“They didn’t do Stark any favors by waiting,’’ said a law
enforcement source. “I don’t know if we could have saved his life, but I will
tell you that it’s unlikely that minivan would have made it out to Long Island.
The weather was horrible that night. The LIE was closed. It would have been a
real challenge for [the kidnappers] to get out there while we’re looking for
them.’’
A Shomrim spokesman declined comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment