Police ID man stabbed on Brentwood street

Suffolk police identified a man found stabbed on a Brentwood street early Saturday morning.

Alexander Santos Argueta-Ventura, 24, of 14 East 12th St., Huntington Station, was the sixth fatality in Brentwood in less than a year.

Homicide investigators said the body was discovered in front of a Gates Avenue home. He was described as in his 20s and wore a brown, hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Someone heard a dog barking, looked toward the street, saw a fight and called 911, said Det. Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky, of the Suffolk County police homicide unit.

Police found Ventura at about 3 a.m. The victim was assaulted by another man in the first block of Gates Avenue, police said.

No arrest had been made as of Sunday morning. The suspect was with two females who fled in a white two-door sedan, police said.

Yesterday's homicide is the latest in a series of violent episodes in the community. On Feb. 17, Brentwood resident David Sandler, 20, was fatally shot on Timberline Drive.

Recent Brentwood shootings have killed three people and injured six others, said Suffolk County Legis. Ricardo Montano (D-Brentwood).

A meeting to discuss violence in Brentwood is scheduled for Wednesday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Brentwood Public Library.

In the neighborhood where the stabbing occurred, residents Saturday spoke of seeing change in their community. Neighbors said the block has been besieged lately with drugs and graffiti.

"I think it's time to move," said Danielle Lipton, who lives in the house in front of where the stabbing took place. Lipton, 28, said lately she is afraid to linger outside her own home for fear of her safety, saying she has seen drug deals and cars have been broken into.

"It's gradually getting worse," Lipton said.

With Stacey Altherr