by Mike Schnitzel
"We were at Sunoco and someone yelled to call 911 and we ran over," said Martin Cenacchi, a supervisor at Quiznos who witnessed the mayhem.
"One guy came shooting in [to the parking lot] and smacked into a minivan," said Ray Sanchez, another supervisor who was at the scene with Cenacchi. "Then he reversed and hit the store next door and came barreling into our front."
A white minivan came to rest about 15 feet inside the Quiznos after hitting a dividing wall in front of the establishment's restroom area, according to Cenacchi and Sanchez. A woman who was struck by the vehicle while exiting the ladies' room was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries, according to Cenacchi.
According to police, the driver of the minivan was Gary Banton, a 32-year-old self-employed handyman who lives at 75 Pine St. in Brooklyn.
Police said that the incident, which was attributed to road rage in television news reports on Sunday, was actually a domestic dispute that began when Banton brought his 5-year-old daughter back to her mother's house in Elmont following a night of fun and frivolity. Upon his arrival at the Savoy Avenue residence at 7 p.m., Banton was challenged to step outside by his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, to "settle their differences," according to a police report.
Although Banton declined to step outside, police said that he brooded over the statement. Police said that Banton felt he had been disrespected in front of his daughter, and decided that action had to be taken. Banton followed his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend, whom police would not identifying because they cited him as a victim, to Quiznos, where they went to pick up a relative.
According to 5th Precinct crime analyst officer Stan Slevinski, Banton rammed his minivan into the victim's blue minivan, causing $3,000 in damage. He then backed his van into a vacant storefront at 52 Sunrise Highway, then put the vehicle in gear, smashing into Quiznos in what police said was an attempt to "pin [the victim] under his vehicle."
Banton missed his target, and according to Slevinski, got out of his van brandishing a baseball bat. The victim had grabbed a metal pipe, but before they could confront each other, Slevinski said, the melee was broken up.
Banton was charged with second-degree assault, two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree stalking. He was arraigned on Monday in First District Court in Hempstead, and is being held on $75,000 bail.
The vacant storefront suffered $15,000 in damage and Quiznos suffered $25,000 in damages, according to police - not to mention lost business. "We'll probably be closed for about a week," said Sanchez, who estimated that the store would lose about $1,500 in business each day it remained closed. "We've got some rebuilding we need to do."
