Psych eval ordered for suspect in killing of Lindenhurst vape shop owner
A psychiatric exam was ordered, and a not guilty plea entered, for a homeless man charged with last year's fatal beating of a vape shop owner in his Lindenhurst store.
Yoel Atzmon, 44, who was arrested Wednesday, is jailed without bail, and faces a second-degree murder charge in the May 19, 2021 killing of Kinshuk “Mickey” Patel, 33, who had owned Dapper Smoke Shop on 40th Street.
Atzmon, who allegedly used a heavy object to kill Patel, was arraigned Thursday in Central Islip before District Court Judge Jonathan Bloom, where Atzmon's court-appointed attorney, Christopher Gioe, said he wanted a psychiatrist to interview his client.
"Our interaction was just very — concerning," Gioe said after the court proceeding. "So I wanted to make sure that he was competent to move forward."
During that proceeding, Atzmon made statements that he was being attacked, and that he wanted the truth to come out.
Last year, Atzmon allegedly beat Patel in his head, neck and torso, according to a felony complaint provided by the district attorney's office spokeswoman Tania Lopez.
The Suffolk County Police Department hasn't disclosed what led to a break in the case more than a year after the killing.
Patel's widow, Ruchika, said that she and Patel's father are suffering from depression in the aftermath of the killing. She said the family wants to know why Patel, who came to America from India nine years ago, was killed.
"We want justice … my kids are very little," she said of the couple’s children, ages 5 years and 18 months.
She said the family was dependent for support on Patel, who worked at his shop early in the morning until late at night.
In the hallway of the court complex, Patel's uncle, Happy Patel, said he was pleased with the arrest.
"We definitely believe in the justice system," Patel said. "He will serve his time."
On the night Mickey Patel was killed — which, according to the felony complaint, was sometime between 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. — his wife couldn’t reach him, so she went to the vape shop and found him injured about 9:40 p.m.
"She found the car, Mickey wasn’t there, the store was open, we didn’t see anybody inside, she was scared to get in, finally cops came, we went inside and found him laying around," Patel’s uncle told Newsday after the killing.
The complaint says that the arrest is based, among other evidence, on surveillance video and DNA and fingerprints recovered from the scene.
With Steve Langford
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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