Justice of the ‘pizza’
A street thug involved in a bloody knife battle with a Brooklyn pizza twirler-to-the-stars says he’s the real victim in the case — and even yanked up his shirt in court yesterday to show off his stab wounds to a judge.
The suspect in the attack on Mark Iacono, mob-linked ex-con Benny Geritano, was in Brooklyn Criminal Court charged with attempted murder in the murky case.
Iacono, who was sliced all over his body in Friday’s fracas on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, has been charged with felony assault but could face other raps related to the fight, too, a DA spokesman said.
“I got arrested because of all the publicity,” Iacono was overheard griping from his bed in Lutheran Hospital yesterday.
“They think this is some kind of mob story. I was just trying to defend myself.”
Neither Iacono, who owns the renowned Lucali pizza shop — where Beyoncé and Jay-Z often dine — nor Geritano has been cooperating with authorities.
As Iacono lay in the hospital, Geritano was arraigned — and his lawyer, Steven Kartagener, insisted that his client was attacked first.
Geritano, who has been linked to the Genovese crime family, bizarrely lifted his shirt to expose his bare chest covered with bandages as his lawyer spoke.
Prosecutors called Geritano a “violent predator” and insisted that Iacono “suffered far worse injuries.”
Kartagener said the large knife recovered at the scene belonged to Iacono. But prosecutors insisted it belonged to Geritano.
Geritano — who is on probation until 2013 for his role in a nationwide bank-robbery spree — was held in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Judge Rachel Adams ordered a bail-source hearing to ensure Geritano doesn’t use ill-gotten gains to post bail.
The case has distinct mob undertones.
There are Geritano’s alleged ties to reputed mobsters and an alleged no-show job that Iacono gave to reputed Colombo associate Dominick “Black Dom” Dionisio at the celebrated Henry Street pizzeria.
Additional reporting by C.J. Sullivan and Mitchel Maddux
