New York Daily News

DEATH & BLOOD

Fight erupts as FedEx guy hits man at funeral

- BY ELLEN MOYNIHAN AND ROCCO PARASCANDO­LA

A funeral at a Brooklyn mosque erupted into a bloody melee after a FedEx worker hit a mourner with his truck Monday, police said.

The mayhem began about 12:40 p.m. when a FedEx truck at Sixth Ave. and 63rd St. in Sunset Park backed up into a 46-year-old man who had been at a funeral at the Beit El-Maqdis Islamic Center of Bay Ridge.

The man suffered minor injuries, but the incident sparked angry words between other mourners and two FedEx employees.

Naim Jawad, a mosque board member, said it appeared the driver had “road rage,” apparently because the 70 to 100 people exiting the mosque prevented him from driving off the block.

“The gentleman lay on the floor because he couldn’t move until the ambulance came,” Jawad said. “I don’t t n ey new ey e guy or not until our guys stopped them.”

The sight of the mourner on the ground, Jawad said, angered witnesses.

“They tried to hold the FedEx truck so it doesn’t go anywhere,” he said. “Somehow, words were exchanged and then physical contact.

“They started swinging and punching each other.”

n e ensu ng me ee, e truck’s side windows were smashed, Jawad said.

The driver, Andrew Blunt, 25, slashed a 46-year-old man on the hand with a boxcutter — and Blunt’s co-worker, Omar Lindsay, also 25, slammed a 52-year-old man in the head with a fire extinguish­er.

One of the FedEx workers was assaulted in the fracas by bdel Hamid Quadus, the 23ar-old nephew of the man ing mourned. He and the FedEx workers ere busted. A third FedEx worker ran f, Jawad said. Quadus was charged with isdemeanor assault and the dEx workers were charged ith felony assault. Lindsay’s grandmothe­r, lerie Walker, said she was ffled by news of the brawl. “We haven’t gotten a call om him, we haven’t heard ything. He just went to ork this morning and that’s ” she told the Daily News. He doesn’t do things like that.” Lindsay only started working for FedEx recently, Walker said. The injured were treated at NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn. FedEx in a statement called the incident “disturbing” and said it is “cooperatin­g with investigat­ing authoritie­s to determine the facts.”

 ??  ?? Windows of FedEx truck were smashed by mourners after driver hit pedestrian during a funeral at the Beit El-Maqdis Islamic Center of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, causing a minor injury. FedEx worker Omar Lindsay was arrested (below).
Windows of FedEx truck were smashed by mourners after driver hit pedestrian during a funeral at the Beit El-Maqdis Islamic Center of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, causing a minor injury. FedEx worker Omar Lindsay was arrested (below).
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