Cops arrested a Crown Heights man on murder charges Wednesday night in the January death of Menachem Stark, police said.
Kendel Felix, 26, told investigators that he and an unidentified accomplice had only wanted to scare the businessman when they accidently killed him during a Jan. 2 abduction outside his Williamsburg office.
“He owes me money!” the accomplice said moments before the kidnapping, according to Felix’s alleged confession.
Felix was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday night and was being held at the 77th Precinct station house on Utica Avenue.evening and was expected to be charged with murder.
Two other men were also taken into custody Wednesday but
They made no statements to police and asked for lawyers, who could not be reached for comment.
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Police released footage of suspects wanted for questioning in the abduction.Photo: NYPD
Police were still searching for his alleged accomplice and two others.
Using a borrowed Dodge Caravan, Felix and his cohort drove up to Stark on Rutledge Street amid a snowstorm and forced him inside kicking and screaming, sources said.
Felix said he drove off while the accomplice sat on Stark’s chest trying to get him under control.
But Stark stopped breathing, and the hapless kidnappers panicked when they realized he was dead, Felix allegedly said.
They picked up the accomplice’s brother and another man for help, according to the sources — but the fourth man jumped out as soon as he realized there was a body inside.
Then the accomplice— who Felix said had planted a cellphone with a tracking device on Stark’s Lexus SUV, and even changed the battery once — left, leaving Felix and the other man to deal with the body. They drove to a gas station in Great Neck, LI, where one or both men filled a large soda bottle with gasoline and poured it on Stark’s body before setting it ablaze in a Dumpster there.
Cops later recovered the minivan, which had traces of Stark’s blood inside.
Detectives seized computers and cellphones from the suspect, and took a pair of work boots from an apartment in a bid to match them to distinctive shoes seen on surveillance video.
Cops believe the kidnapping was an attempt to get money from Stark, who allegedly stiffed one of the men on a bill for some construction work.
Sources had said the debt was around $20,000, but that could not be confirmed on Wednesday.
Two other men were brought in by cops Wednesday along with Felix, but one was let go and the other was charged in an unrelated matter.
Cops went to Stark’s Rutledge Street home on Wednesday to tell his wife, Bashie, about the suspects. The family refused to speak with reporters.
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said cops hope to have the case wrapped up quickly.
Rabbi David Niederman, who heads the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, said the community was relieved.
“We are extremely happy and hope that those who committed this crime will be charged and formally arrested,” he said.
Brooklyn City Councilman David Greenfield also praised the NYPD.
“The callous murder of Menachem Stark shocked not just the Jewish community, but all people of good conscience. Certainly, his family can have no peace until every person responsible for this depraved crime is brought to justice,” Greenfield said.
“We will now have to work hard to make sure that these murderers never see the light of day again.”
Tenants have called Stark a slumlord, and his properties have racked up 233 numerous violationsand 148 violations, according to the city Department of Buildings, and nearly 200 Environmental Control Board violationsrecords.
“He said, ‘I’m in danger,’ ” according to a community source. “But he never explained what he meant.”
He was also deeply in debt, falling $60 million behind in mortgage payments and with a partner filing for bankruptcy six times.
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