A man previously sought in connection to the death of a professional welterweight boxer in the Bronx on New Year’s Eve in 2006 was arrested and charged with murder on Friday, the NYPD said.
Ahmet Gashi, 42, of Kosovo, Serbia, allegedly ran over prizefighter Kemal Kolenovic, then 28, with a Mitsubishi SUV outside a bar on Belmont Avenue in the Fordham section of the Bronx, according to police.
Kolenovic, who hailed from Montenegro, was killed after a bar fight between Gashi and two other men spilled outside into the street, police have said.
Ahmet Gashi is led outside by officials after his arrest on Dec. 13, 2024. ABC7 NYCops said the suspect jumped into the driver’s seat of his car and drove up on the curb to hit the men with whom he had been arguing.
Instead, Kolenovic, who was not even involved in the dispute, was struck and launched into a tree, hitting his head. He was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The driver of the car fled and eluded retribution for the heinous act.
Police officers initially wanted to question Gashi in connection to the death, but the suspect fled into the Balkans and disappeared for the last 18 years.
Kemal Kolenovic was struck and killed by a car outside a Bronx bar on Dec. 31, 2006. NY Post Jim Alcorn
Kolenovic was a professional welterweight boxer. NY Post/G.N. Miller
NYPD detectives investigate the scene at East 186th Street and Belmont in the Bronx on Dec. 31, 2006. NY Post/G.N. Miller
Cops said the suspect jumped into the driver’s seat of his car and drove up on the curb to hit the men with whom he had been arguing. NY Post/G.N. MillerGashi was picked up by Serbian police earlier this year and was then transferred to the ward of the US Marshals, according to ABC7.
He arrived at Central Booking in the Bronx on Friday night.
