Bodyguard to stars shot dead in Hampton Bays

A Riverhead man who had acted as a bodyguard to stars and celebs visiting Long Island died at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center after police said he was shot Friday outside a Hampton Bays nightclub during a fight over who was wearing the best Halloween costume.

Carlo Petrusa, 64, was shot twice in the dispute. Suffolk homicide detectives, who are investigating the incident at Dream Nightclub on Canal Road, said Saturday morning that Petrusa was pronounced dead at the hospital Friday afternoon.

Police still are looking for the shooter. Southampton Town police described him as dressed as a character from the 1995 movie "Dead Presidents," in which bank robbers covered their faces in white makeup. Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.

Petrusa, at more than 300 pounds and 6 feet tall, occasionally protected stars when they visited the Hamptons, his brother Richard Petrusa, 68, said Saturday. He had pulled that duty for singer Fergie and other stars and for celebrity publicist Lizzie Grubman, said the brother, of Honesdale, Pa. Carlo Petrusa was a retired State Supreme Court officer in Queens, his brother said.

Richard Petrusa said he didn't know what his brother was doing at the nightclub. Relatives had believed Carlo Petrusa, who celebrated his birthday last week, survived the shooting, but later learned he died during surgery, his brother said.

Another victim, Shawn Badgett, 35, of Middle Island, was shot twice during the early morning scuffle, police said. Badgett, the party's promoter, was taken by friends to Stony Brook University Medical Center, where he was treated and released, police said.

"There was a costume-judging contest . . . two contestants got into a fight, and it became a full-blown fight inside the club," Southampton Town Police Det. Sgt. Randy Hintze said Friday.

Suffolk police said that at about 3:47 a.m., a man with a handgun approached the entrance of the club and fired. Petrusa and Badgett were near the doorway when they were shot.

Suffolk Homicide Squad Det. Sgt. William Lamb said an autopsy on Petrusa will be conducted. Badgett could not be reached Saturday.

With Zachary R. Dowdy