Vic: Another stab at love
She may have played the dutiful, if bloodied, girlfriend standing by disgraced ex-Queens politician Hiram Monserrate, but now she’s got her own stalwart lover.
Monserrate’s former flame, Karla Barba (inset top), remains accused of slashing her fiancé, Franklin Lorrea, with a samurai sword — yet that wasn’t enough to cleave their bond, Lorrea told The Post on Tuesday.
“I still love her and I want to be with her,” Lorrea, who shares a young daughter with his accused slasher, gushed after attending her routine court appearance in Queens.
The two remain separated by an order of protection, and Lorrea was forced to sit on the opposite side of the courtroom to catch a glimpse of his love without breaking the law. Per the order, the couple cannot speak, except when talking about their 2year-old child.
Barba, 38, attacked Lorrea with one of his prized samurai swords following a spat during the summer of 2016 in their Jackson Heights, Queens, apartment, prosecutors say.
The assault allegedly took place in front of his 12-yearold son, whose shirt cops later used as a tourniquet to staunch the bleeding as Lorrea lost consciousness.
But Lorrea claimed Tuesday the whole thing was a mistake and he doesn’t want his former bride-to-be prosecuted.
“I never pressed charges [against Barba],” the 40-yearold Lorrea insisted. “Everything is just a misunderstanding. I told them from the beginning that it was an accident.”
He added he’s still working to get the charges against Barba dropped so they can be together again.
“I’ve been trying to clear this up,” Lorrea said. “It’s been hard.”
Barba stands charged with firstdegree assault, recklessly causing serious injury with a weapon, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. Baraba ducked out of court wearing large sunglasses, a pink top and black sweats.
She declined to comment before slipping out.
Monserrate (inset bottom) was booted from the state Senate in 2009 after a gory video surfaced of him attacking Barba, his then-gal pal, with a broken wine glass.
Barba is slated to return to court May 30. If convicted, she faces up to 25 years behind bars.