By Dustin Brown
After dozing off and missing his getaway flight, a worker at a Manhattan construction site was arrested last week for allegedly killing his Middle Village boss with the chop of a pickax to the back of his head, police said.
Oskar Racins, 21, of Brooklyn, has been charged with murder in the slaying of Donald Peglow, a 45-year-old contractor from Metropolitan Avenue whose body was found April 23 in the Manhattan building where he had been working, police said.
Racins allegedly struck Peglow in the back of the head with a pickax in a fit of rage around 6:30 p.m. April 22, after Peglow refused to hand over money Racins claimed was owed to him, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He then stole Peglow’s wallet and cleared his pockets of $2,000, police said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the attack came violently and quickly, “one clean shot with the end of a pickax.”
Peglow was discovered the following morning at the construction site at 102 Fulton St. with the pickax still lodged in the back of his head, his body hidden beneath a sheet of metal, the complaint said.
Racins allegedly used the money he stole from Peglow to buy a ticket for a 5:55 a.m. flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Helsinki, which departed less than 12 hours after the slaying, the Daily News said.
But Racins’ plans to flee to his native Latvia, from which he emigrated three years ago, were foiled when he fell asleep and missed the plane, the newspaper said. He ultimately ran into police at his parents’ Brooklyn apartment and was placed under arrest.
Racins was arraigned at midnight April 24 and held without bail, Manhattan district attorney spokeswoman Shirley Hunter said. His next hearing is set for May 6.
Peglow lived in a two-family home at 60-44 Metropolitan Ave., one of only a handful of houses along a highly commercial strip.
Those who worked for him described Peglow as a tough boss who demanded a lot from his employees but had a giving heart, according to published reports.
Peglow was buried Monday following a small service at the Hess Miller Funeral Home on Metropolitan Avenue, only four blocks from his home.
Later that day, his mother Ruth declined to speak about her son but briefly expressed her anger over his slaying.
“He’s up in heaven and everyone should say a prayer for him, because I’m going to get that sucker [for] what he’s done.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
