A man stabbed in a Queens bodega was killed after a wild fight behind the counter of the shop, where both men picked up any weapon they could find — including a pineapple — as employees scrambled to break up the brawl, police said Tuesday.
Cops say the victim, Nurul Bhuiyan, met his attacker by chance across the street from Sammy Gourmet Deli on Jamaica Ave. near 169th St. in Jamaica around 9:40 p.m. Saturday.
Bhuiyan, 40, was acting erratically on the street as he talked to himself and paced back and forth just as Jahsaua Kelley, 24, and a friend passed by, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing Tuesday.
The two men exchanged words before Kelley threw a bunch and missed, Kenny said.
In response, Bhuiyan pulled out a knife and walked toward Kelley, who took his shirt off and used it as a shield as the two squared off in the middle of the avenue.
After a short time, Bhuiyan ran into the bodega and behind the counter, where he grabbed a serrated bread knife.
“He robbed me! He stole my wallet!” Kelley allegedly screamed as he followed closely behind Bhuiyan, though police said surveillance video proves the victim did not steal the man’s wallet.
A wild fight broke out, with Kelley defending himself with a pineapple as Bhuiyan waved two knives around, Kenny said.
Kelley grabbed another knife out of a butcher block and Bhuiyan charged at him with a baseball bat he found behind a counter, the NYPD official added.
The fight came to an end when Kelley put Bhuiyan into a headlock and stabbed him multiple times.
After the bloody stabbing, Kelley washed up in a sink as stunned employees handed him paper towels. The man dried himself off and calmly walked out of the store, Kenny said.
Bhuiyan, who lived in St. Albans, died in the bodega.
Kelley initially got away, but after matching a distinctive tattoo to one in their database, cops were able to track the man to his home in Queens Village.
Police took him into custody on Monday and he was expected to be charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon, Kenny said.
Kelley has eight previous arrests in the city, cops said.