NEW YORK– Two New York City employees pleaded not guilty Tuesday in what police are calling a mob attack on former New York Governor David Paterson and his stepson, Anthony Sliwa.
Travor Nurse, 40, and Diamond Minter, 34, appeared in court to face assault charges. Two boys aged 12 and 13 also did that was also charged in this case.
Prosecutors said it started when Paterson’s 20-year-old stepson, the son of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, confronted a group of young people climbing a building outside his building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Friday. Later that evening, Paterson and his stepson went for a walk and came across the same group.
They exchanged words, and then the time came The nurse and the munter intervenedand the argument became physical.
According to prosecutors, both parties separated before Nurse threw Sliwa to the ground and kicked him, Minter pulled his arms back and two youths stomped on him. Paterson was also hit in the back of the head and knocked down.
Sliwa and Paterson were both treated and released from hospital.
After learning of the arrests in the case, a spokesperson for the 70-year-old former governor said in a statement: “Friday evening was a traumatic experience for the governor and his stepson and they look forward to putting this entire matter behind them . as quickly as possible.”
An attorney for Nurse and Minter, who both work for the city’s Housing Authority (NYCHA), told The Associated Press that his clients tried to defuse the situation and “what they perceived as adults molesting children.”
The nurse’s bail was set at $25,000 cash or $50,000 surety, and Minter was released on supervised release. Both are due back in court on Friday.