Immigrant victim sits in Rikers after slashing in Bronx
August 21st 2008, 10:17 PM

Imprisoned Marco Baeza, a Mexican immigrant, shows the 250 stitches and staples needed to close the gashes he suffered when he was assaulted on Prospect Ave. in the Bronx.
Around 11:15 p.m. on July 10, Mexican immigrant Marco Baeza, 28, who restores antiques by day, finished his night job painting shelves on the upper East Side.

As he walked out the door to catch the subway home to the Bronx, Baeza told his boss Sammy Awad, who owns a wine shop on E. 79th St., that he'd be back that weekend for some touchup work and to collect his pay.

Less than an hour later, police found Baeza in a pool of blood outside the Prospect Ave. elevated station. His face, head and arms were so badly slashed that doctors at Lincoln Hospital needed 250 stitches and staples to close his wounds.

Baeza told police two strangers mugged him as he walked out of the station. Area residents say a gang of youths has been preying on Mexican immigrants along Prospect Ave. for some time.

The thugs figure most Mexicans are in the country illegally and will never go to police - but Baeza, who has spent nearly a decade in New York, is not your typical illegal immigrant.

"He's a hardworking man," Awad said. "He's also courageous, and has too much pride to let someone rob him."

A few minutes after the attack, police grabbed Max Stevenson and Bryan Ozuna, both 19, near the station. Stevenson was bleeding from his neck and chest and Ozuna had a bloody gravity knife tucked in his waistband.

Stevenson told cops: "The Mexican did this. The Mexican slashed me first so I slashed him back."

The only weapon found on Baeza was a drill bit; the gashes on his arm were obviously defensive wounds.

Still, he was charged the with attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment, and ordered held on $100,000 bail.

So what happened to the men accused of slicing Baeza up like a piece of Swiss cheese? Stevenson was slapped with assault, criminal possession and harassment and released on his own recognizance; Ozuna was hit with a misdemeanor weapons charge and freed. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Legal Aid lawyer Monica Dula was working arraignment court in the Bronx that night. She was shocked when she saw Baeza hauled before the judge.

"It's outrageous how this man's been treated," Dula said. "He's the victim. He had 250 stitches and the other guy, Stevenson, had 25, yet Mr. Baeza's been in Rikers Island since July."

Given the conflicting allegations and the lack of witnesses, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson has yet to take the case to a grand jury.

A few weeks ago, a judge reduced Baeza's bail to $1, but immigration authorities stepped in and ordered him held for deportation proceedings.

You'd think the NYPD and Johnson would conduct some kind of expedited investigation of this case, but no detective has been assigned to the case, and no one in law enforcement bothered to take photos of Baeza's wounds.

"I had to get a court order and send my investigator to Rikers Island two weeks later to photograph my client," Dula said. "I've asked the DA's office to take DNA samples of Baeza and the bloody knife; they keep dragging their feet."

Johnson spokesman Steven Reed said they will interview Baeza and take DNA.

Dula is trying to get Baeza a "U" visa, a special visa for immigrants cooperating with law enforcement.

Meanwhile, Baeza remains in jail, accused of trying to kill two strangers with a drill bit.

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