Bailed out in CVS slay
Employee freed in stabbing of would-be thief
A CVS pharmacy clerk was freed on $100,000 bond Thursday in the stabbing of a serial Manhattan shoplifter earlier this month in a final, fatal confrontation.
Scotty Enoe, 46, was turned loose a week after his arrest, surrendering his passport and agreeing to wear an ankle monitor pending his next court appearance on charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
“This was an act of self-defense,” his attorney Adam Freedman said of the incident in which Charles Brito was knifed to death.
“Obviously, he’s very pleased to be out and is looking forward to fighting the case. My client was doing nothing more than working when he was attacked.”
A law enforcement source told the Daily News that Enoe walked away after an initial confrontation with Brito, who had entered the store on multiple prior occasions.
When things escalated, Enoe stabbed the alleged thief eight times, prosecutors said.
“I didn’t stab him over CVS products,” the source quoted Enoe as telling police. “I stabbed him over punching me. Look at my face.”
According to Freedman, his client was stocking the shelves near the freezer when the 50-year-old homeless man started the fight that ended with his death.
Enoe, unlike his victim, had no criminal record. A police source said Brito was involved in two prior incidents at the store on Broadway and W. 49th St. in recent weeks, and cops said the dead man had rung up 16 arrests since 2017.
At the suspect’s earlier arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Julie Nobel accused Enoe of “bringing a knife to what was otherwise a fistfight,” adding, “This is a strong case.”
She said that Enoe provided a statement admitting his guilt in the case. Under the terms of his release, the defendant will be allowed to work — although it remained unclear if he would return to the CVS outlet.