Landlord’s deadly fall Kin, cops blame deadbeat tenant
A Queens landlord trying to collect $200 in back rent was allegedly shoved down the front steps by a deadbeat tenant — a deadly push caught on surveillance video, police and the victim’s family said Monday.
Edgar Moncayo, 70, is seen standing outside his Corona house Sunday afternoon, talking with his wife on the phone and trying to gain access to the building when his tenant, 22-year-old Alex Garces, opens the front door.
“Call the police!” Moncayo yells to his wife in Spanish, as he tries to storm the door, according to doorbell video footage obtained by the Daily News.
Moments later, Garces’ upper body appears in the video frame as he forcefully leans out the door and shoves the elderly man off the stoop — sending Moncayo flying backward and smashing onto the pavement at the foot of the entry steps.
Moncayo, whose head slammed into the sidewalk, suffered a traumatic brain injury. Medics took him to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he died, authorities said.
Garces (inset) paid $400 rent to move into a room in Moncayo’s two-story house on 102nd St. and Northern Blvd. about a month ago, Moncayo’s grandson told The News.
“The first month he paid, and then he was trying to disappear,” said grandson Andy Jativa. “My grandfather said, ‘I’m even dropping the price for you. I’m not a bad person.’ …. He was gonna drop the month’s rent to $200.”
The rent ruckus led to an ongoing argument and Garces agreed to move out, police sources said.
“My grandfather was trying to get some of the money he was owed. He wasn’t trying to get rough with him. He was just trying to get paid,” Jativa said. “What is $200? You can borrow that money.”
Moncayo, who had three adult daughters and seven grandchildren, lived in the humble Corona house for more than 25 years, his grandson said.
He worked two jobs parking cars, seven days a week, to help make ends meet.
“He was a great man. We were all in the hospital showing him the love and respect he deserved,” Jativa said.
He had simple rules for his male boarders, his grandson said: No women and no children.
Garces broke both of his rules, inviting his girlfriend to stay over, sometimes with a crying, unattended baby, Jativa said.
On Sunday afternoon, Garces and his brother allegedly used a drill to force open the door and enter the Corona house without permission to get his belongings, Jativa said.
Moncayo showed up to get them to leave — and that’s when he and Garces had their fatal encounter, cops said.
After Moncayo hit the pavement, Garces is seen exiting the house with another young man.
One of them checked the motionless Moncayo for a pulse and then — apparently realizing the severity of the situation — reached for his phone.
Garces stayed at the scene and initially told cops Moncayo fell accidentally while he was helping the younger man move, sources said.
But when the landlord’s family reviewed footage from his doorbell camera, the video told a different story.
“He was shoved, twice. One shove, then another. That’s what put him down on the sidewalk,” Jativa charged.
Garces’ family insisted Tuesday night the shove was an accident, and that Moncayo let him in at first, then scuffled with him as they were moving out his bed.