Co-worker charged in showroom stabbing

A 22-year-old Yonkers man was killed Monday, Feb. 24, in what some are calling a workplace dispute.

Police responded to a 911 call around 4:30 that evening reporting an assault in progress, arriving at Riverdale Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram at 5869 Broadway. It was there they found employee Brandon Almonte had been stabbed in the neck several times, and was unconscious, according to the New York Police Department. He was rushed to The Allen Pavilion at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, on the Inwood side of the Broadway Bridge, where he died a short time later.

The dealership declined to comment.

Police charged Almonte’s coworker, 53-year-old Jose Almodovar, with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted, Almodovar could face between five and 25 years in prison, and a fine of up to $5,000 for the manslaughter charge, and 25 years to life for murder.

This was the 50th Precinct’s first reported homicide this year, matching the total number of homicides from all of 2019. That particular murder involved the stabbing of a 39-year-old man at his Kingsbridge Avenue apartment more than a year ago.

Nine homicides have been reported in the Bronx this year, compared to eight at this point last year, according to NYPD statistics.

It wasn’t the first incidence of workplace violence in the precinct this year. In early January, Charles Newton — a supervisor at Fort Independence Houses on Bailey Avenue — was reportedly shot three times after an alleged dispute with an employee. That employee, Frankie Corchado, later turned himself into police to face charges, according to published reports at the time.

He was charged with attempted murder, and is still in jail in lieu of $100,000 in bail, according to city records.

Newton was treated at St. Barnabas Hospital on Third Avenue, and survived his injuries.

Workplace violence isn’t all that uncommon nationwide. According to the National Safety Council, workplace assaults resulted in more than 20,000 injuries and 400 deaths. Those numbers include worker-on-worker violence, client violence, violence with criminal intent, and personal relationships.

New York does have a workplace violence prevention law on the books at the state level, intended to keep public employees safe in high-risk work environments. That law, however, does not apply to private companies like the Chrysler dealership, and focuses on employees who work late at night, or alone, or in small numbers.