A Queens bodega worker who fatally stabbed a Bronx man during an argument over a beer early Tuesday was getting choked just before he knifed the victim, law enforcement sources said.
The unidentified worker at the Mini Mart on the corner of Queens Boulevard and 64th Road in Rego Park was apparently being strangled from behind by Dylan Marino, 21, of Grand Concourse, when the worker drew the knife, struck Marino with the butt end and slashed him, sources told The Post.
That story was backed up by a spokesman for the trade group United Bodegas of America, who said at a Wednesday press conference near the crime scene that it was “clear to everyone that this man was defending himself, and his life could have been taken away.”
“We believe very strongly that [the worker] was trying to defend his life,” said Fernando Mateo, founder and spokesman of UBA. “He came out to ask for his property back. He didn’t come out with violence, he didn’t come out looking for trouble.”