Thursday, October 1, 2026
Two New York City men were arrested at Walmart in Valley Stream on Dec. 19 after one struggled with officers as he was being arrested for threatening two other shoppers with a knife. As that incident unfolded, another man began videotaping the action with his cell phone, and then struggled with officers as they tried to arrest him for allegedly having a knife.
Kirk D. McRae Jr., 31, of Brooklyn, became involved in an argument with two women while waiting on line shortly before 7 p.m., according to Nassau County police. McRae allegedly waved a four-inch razor knife with a black handle in the air, causing the women to fear for their safety, police said.
Officers arrived and tried to arrest McRae, and he began to struggle, police said, “forcefully” ripping off an officer’s baton and its holder from the officer’s belt.
During the incident and as police were walking McRae out of the store, Shane Marco Bingham, 20, of Queens, started video taping them with his cell phone. Police said that Bingham tried to get closer to the scene and was asked to step back, at which point officers saw a six-inch gravity knife with a red handle sticking out of a back pocket of his pants. Police tried to arrest Bingham, but he allegedly resisted by “swinging his arms violently and kicking his legs to get away from officers.” Officers sustained a sprained elbow and sprained wrist, according to police.
As police drove McRae to the precinct to be processed, he “created a disturbance” in the back seat, police said, and bit an officer on the forearm before he was subdued and the transport was completed.
McRae was charged with second-degree menacing, fourth-degree criminal mischief, fourth-degree criminal possession of a dangerous weapon, second-degree obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest.
Bingham was charged with two counts of second-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.
Both men were arraigned at First district Court in Hempstead on Dec. 20.
The criminality of gravity knives — a term that can describe many common folding knives — is a matter of some controversy. A state ban was enacted in the 1950s to restrict knives that were similar to switchblades and considered especially dangerous, according to a Village Voice report in June. The state Assembly passed an amendment to the law on June 10, with critics claiming that it unfairly criminalizes knives that can be bought legally in stores, though police can interpret the law to target people carrying many varieties of folding knives.
