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Fighting at the feast – Alleged assault between vendors sends one to hospital

What had been a quiet two-week celebration of the Feast of the Giglio erupted in violence during the last weekend as a vendor and her disabled husband were assaulted while they cleaned up their stand on the corner of North 7th and Havemeyer Street on July 19, stunned witnesses said.

Police from the 94th Precinct confirmed that they were investigating the attack, which they described as a scuffle between vendors after the festival had ended.

Witnesses said that Maria Saez San Martin, a Mineola resident and a vendor selling chocolate-dipped strawberries at the popular feast, sustained severe injuries to her face and torso, and was taken to Woodhull Medical Center, shortly after 1 a.m. for treatment.

“I still hear her screams, when she was getting her face bashed in,” one female witness said. “There was nothing I could do. I was scared myself. I saw it in reality, it was the most grotesque thing I ever saw. She was bleeding down her face. It was horrible.”

Witnesses described two tall men, in their late twenties or early thirties, with short hair and fair complexion as the assaulters. They allegedly held San Martin down and punched her face repeatedly while their elderly parents shouted at a zeppoli vendor across the street as a crowd quickly formed, witnesses claim.

The two men were believed to have been working on a nearby block at the fair, though it is unclear whether they were operating rides or were selling food.

The altercation may have been preceded by an encounter in the evening on the previous day when two elderly individuals, believed to be husband and wife, struck a vendor’s tent light with their black sedan.

“When the car stopped, the man got out of the car and started shouting,” a male witness said. “Everyone got involved. All the vendors nearby started arguing.”

According to the male witness, two younger men returned after midnight and provoked an argument.

“They argued, hit her husband,” a male witness said. “The husband was handicapped. He had a limp. They just threw her down. The cops came in and they didn’t do anything.”

The perpetrators also allegedly slashed at a man who was trying to intercede, leaving him with a cut on his shoulder.

Witnesses said that the whole event lasted between 12 and 15 minutes before a patrol car arrived at the scene and the two men ran away.

More than a dozen police cars arrived after the first responder came, and began questioning witnesses about what happened.

A male witness who described the scene said that he has not seen the suspects in the week after the assault, though a female witness believes they live in the area.

Both witnesses have given their statements to a detective with the 94th Precinct.

Police have not made any arrests connected to this case at the time this article went to press.

The detective investigating the matter with the 94th Precinct declined to comment.

Yet, sources from the precinct said that the fight erupted from an altercation between two vendors, possibly either over a parking spot or that incident involving the tent.

“It was a long day and a minor problem, but they started fighting,” said a source, who added that the female victim may have been hit by accident.

“Our sources are telling us that one of the assailants struck the woman in the face as he reeled back his arm,” the police official said. “We’re looking into that.”

“We had many witnesses, that’s not the problem,” said a female witness. “The problem is getting justice for Maria. Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Cops said that beside the attack, the Feast of the Giglio “went off without a hitch,” save for a few disorderly conduct arrests.

—Tom Tracy contributed

to this story