A man was stabbed to death during a fight over beer outside a Queens bodega early Tuesday – and a worker at the store was taken into police custody, cops and law enforcement sources said.
The victim was knifed in the chest around 12:30 a.m. in front of the Mini Mart on Queens Boulevard near 65th Road in Rego Park, cops said.
He was taken to the Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
The deadly stabbing stemmed from a spat over the alcoholic beverage, sources said – but they did not immediately have more details on how the feud unfolded.
The victim has not been identified by cops.
The store employee was taken into custody but was not immediately charged.
“This is tragic, this is what we were trying to avoid, someone losing their life,” Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the United Bodegas of America, said of the violence in a statement.
“We ask the public and the media not to jump to conclusions until NYPD detectives have pieced the puzzle,” he continued. “We are hoping NYPD video tapes will tell the real story of what happened.”
“UBA believes DA Melinda Katz will be fair after reviewing the evidence and seeing the video tapes,” the spokesman added, noting that his organization will hold a press conference “once we have the full story” and decline to comment further until then.