Details emerge about alleged kidnapping of Conn. doc outside Brooklyn Mirage, venue plagued by recent deaths of 2 concertgoers
New details emerged about the Connecticut doctor who was allegedly abducted outside the troubled Brooklyn music venue where two recent concertgoers went missing and were later found dead.
The news of the man’s July kidnapping made headlines as neighbors are calling on Brooklyn Mirage and elected officials to improve safety measures outside the Bushwick hotspot following the deaths of Goldman Sachs analyst John Castic and psychologist Karl Clemente.
Residents want officials to crack down on illegal cab drivers and unsolicited club promoters who prey on people exiting the popular electronic music venue in the early hours of the morning.
The 32-year-old Norwalk doctor, who has not been identified, was allegedly abducted on July 21 after getting into a cab that refused to take him to his car and instead drove him to an afterparty, according to police and local publication the Hour.
The taxi driver took the doctor and another man — a reported club promoter — who was already inside the taxi to a party in Manhattan.
The doc eventually made it back to his car in Brooklyn — but the other passenger, identified as 43-year-old Anthony Benjamin of the Bronx, came with him and repeatedly threatened to kill or harm him if he didn’t do as he said and claimed to be armed, the outlet reported.
Over the course of the weekend, Benjamin took the doctor on a spending spree through the Bronx — forcing him to buy him clothes and shoes, pay for his haircut at a barber shop, and a night out at a strip club, according to a police report obtained by the Hour.
He also allegedly forced the victim to withdraw money from ATMs, which he pocketed and distributed to his friends in the neighborhood, the report states.
The doctor was on call during the weekend and got a call from the emergency department in the early hours of July 23.
He claimed to Benjamin that it was an emergency and that he needed to show up to work or people would get suspicious, the report said.
Once at the hospital, the doctor told security that he was being held against his will and police showed up and arrested Benjamin and a friend whom he had enlisted to drive the doctor’s manual car to the medical center, according to the incident account.
Benjamin was charged with second-degree kidnapping with a firearm and possession of a controlled substance and his friend, Steve Daley, 50, was also charged with second-degree kidnapping with a firearm, police said.
Bushwick residents and members of the live music scene are calling on local pols to crack down on unsolicited promoters and unlicensed taxis outside the Mirage.
“There is no security surrounding the exits of the venue; instead, the exit area and surrounding streets are infiltrated with unpermitted drivers posing as rideshares,” a letter sent by locals to Councilwoman Jennifer Gutiérez states.
“Most alarmingly, there’s tons of aggressive club and venue promoters surrounding the area, preying on concert patrons who are under the influence to lure them to follow them to unidentified venues and spaces,” the letter adds.
The venue, in a largely industrial part of Brooklyn far from the subway, became the subject of national news last month when Castic, a 27-year-old Goldman Sachs analyst, went missing after leaving the concert hall just weeks after Clemente, also 27, disappeared after being turned away from the Mirage.
Both men’s bodies were later found in the nearby Newtown Creek.
Police do not suspect foul play in either death.
