By Dustin Brown
The stabbing of an Albanian immigrant as he returned to his Ridgewood apartment early last Thursday has baffled police due to the apparent lack of a motive.
Mirim Emini, 27, was coming back from his job as a waiter in Manhattan at 1 a.m. when he was assaulted by three black men in their 20s outside his home at 60-53 Putnam Ave., police said.
“They just came up to him and stabbed him,” said Capt. Peter Loehle, commanding officer of the 104th Precinct.
One man grabbed Emini and another stabbed him on the right side of his stomach with an unknown weapon while the third held him down, police said.
But the attackers did not steal anything from Emini or even demand that he give them any possessions, Loehle said, ruling out the possibility that robbery may be a motive.
Emini also told police he does not know his attackers and did not exchange any words with them.
“Right now it’s an open case,” Loehle said. “We don’t know anything at this point. He says he has no enemies.”
Emini was taken immediately to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was listed in fair condition Tuesday afternoon, hospital spokeswoman Lisa King said.
One neighbor said she heard the commotion, but did not realize anything was wrong until emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.
“All I heard was screams, but I just didn’t think anything bad was happening,” she said. “I don’t expect that to happen in this neighborhood.”
The New York Post reported Friday that Emini is an immigrant from Albania who came to the United States three years ago after winning his green card in a visa lottery. His wife is four months’ pregnant, according to the Post.
Neighbors said they would rarely bump into Emini or his wife, who have only lived in the apartment for a few months.
No one answered the door to Emini’s residence early Monday evening.
Emini and his wife live in the basement apartment of a tan brick three-family home two blocks west of Fresh Pond Road, one of Ridgewood’s central commercial strips.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
