Dmytro Lapko: Man arrested for brutally attacking and shooting ex-wife's BF in a jealous rage in Brooklyn
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: A woman's boyfriend was brutally attacked with a hatchet and then fatally shot him dead by her former husband in a jealous rage in a Brooklyn parking lot. The incident took place on Thursday, January 5, when Dmytro Lapko, the 47-year-old ex-spouse, allegedly snapped when he witnessed the woman with her 42-year-old boyfriend, Levan Galdava, in a parking lot on Ocean Avenue near Avenue Z in Sheepshead Bay just after 9 pm, police said.
According to The New York Post, locals in the area heard screaming coming from a parking lot initially before they heard a woman pleading to call the emergency responders. “I heard people screaming. I walked over to the window and saw two people arguing, a man and a woman,” said a resident, who declined to provide a name. “She was holding him back so that he doesn’t go past her. He was holding a hatchet in his hand, so it looked like she was holding him back from doing something with the hatchet.”
READ MORE
Another nearby resident said, “a woman screamed, ‘Call 911.’ Then the ambulance and the police showed up.” Police sources said that the lifeless body of Galdava was found lying on the pavement with the 44-year-old girlfriend crying at his side while screaming and pointing at Lapko. Cops said that Galdava had been hit in the head with the hatchet and shot in the chest. He was rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Lapko is said to have fired six shots.
The deranged ex remained in the parking lot where blood and scattered teeth were spotted. He confessed to the attack and was charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Police authorities found the gun under the SUV and the bloody hatchet in the trunk.
In a similar case, MEAWW previously reported that a California father is at large after fatally shooting his daughter's former partner who allegedly chased her in his car. Giovannie Gutierrez confronted his ex-girlfriend at her job on November 21, and confiscated her cell phone, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department. KTLA reported that the duo then met later in a nearby area and the woman salvaged her cell phone but she drove away when Gutierrez tried to break her car mirror. Gutierrez was driving a white Chrysler 300M sedan and was chasing his former partner who was driving a compact car, witnesses told. Both cars collided at least once during the pursuit.
The two cars halted in the middle of Sierra Highway, the sheriff’s department said. Gutierrez then apparently tried to forcefully enter her car while she was on the call with family members who had dialed emergency services. A white Ford Ranger arrived at the scene while Gutierrez was still trying to force his way into the car. The sheriff’s department said that a man, who has been identified as the woman's father, got out from the pick-up truck and shot Gutierrez “once in the head". The woman's father, Jose Mendoza is wanted for murder. Gutierrez died after he was taken to a hospital.
