NYC dad bullied witnesses against son who fatally stabbed local basketball star: DA

The father of a man who fatally stabbed a local basketball player was sentenced for creating an Instagram profile to harass and intimidate witnesses against his son, prosecutors said.  Steve Darbasie, a 44-year-old salesman, was sentenced Monday to six months behind bars after he very publicly went after witnesses on an anonymous but easily traceable

The father of a man who fatally stabbed a local basketball player was sentenced for creating an Instagram profile to harass and intimidate witnesses against his son, prosecutors said. 

Steve Darbasie, a 44-year-old salesman, was sentenced Monday to six months behind bars after he very publicly went after witnesses on an anonymous but easily traceable social media profile in an apparent effort to protect his son Tammuz, according to authorities.

Darbasie had insisted his son was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Terrell Wigfall to death in Hell’s Kitchen in August 2020, according to prosecutors.

As his son’s case got closer to trial, Darbasie started naming witnesses and posting pictures of them sitting for police interviews on an anonymous social media profile he created, called “Ratzzzz,” according to a Monday statement from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Steve Darbasie was sent to jail for six months for Instagram posts like this, which were meant to intimidate witnesses against his son, Tammuz.

Authorities arrested him in March 2023, and he was convicted more than a year later on three counts of witness tampering and two counts of intimidation.

“Steve Darbasie waged a relentless campaign of intimidation, using social media as a sword to both punish witnesses for speaking with police and attempt to prevent them from testifying about his son’s crime,” Bragg said in a statement.

“Honest testimony is the bedrock of our criminal legal system, and when witnesses are harassed and intimidated, our ability to hold accountable those who commit violent acts suffers,” he continued.

“We will not tolerate any such attempts, as I hope this trial conviction makes clear.”

Tammuz Darbasie fatally stabbed Terrell Wigfall (pictured), a basketball standout and the father of a young girl.

Darbasie had claimed that Tammuz — then 21 years-old — pulled the knife to defend himself that day in August 2020, when he stabbed Wigfall on the corner of 11th Avenue and West 54th Street just after 10 p.m.

Wigfall, the father of a young daughter, was a junior at Bronx Community College and the leading scorer for the school’s basketball team, the Bronx Broncos.

Authorities rushed the young athlete to Mount Sinai West Hospital, but he died of his injuries several weeks later.

Tammuz, now 24, pleaded to a first-degree manslaughter charge in April 2023 and was sentenced to five years in prison, according to the DA’s office and state prison records.

He will be eligible for early release in January.

The posts had consequences, including someone smashing a witnesses’ rear windshield while they were in the car.

His dad began posting video clips on the anonymous Instagram page around December 2022 that showed witnesses being interviewed by the cops — and identifying participants, Bragg said.

The posts — which included emojis of pigs and rats — came from police videos obtained by his son’s lawyer, the DA added.

The posts weren’t without consequence, authorities said.

Two days after his first post, someone shattered the rear windshield of one of the witnesses’ cars — as two of the witnesses sat inside.

One of them also received threatening texts calling her a “rat,” Bragg said.

Darbasie celebrated the intimidating attempts, and kept his account running until he was collared by the cops.

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
EXCLUSIVECasey Wasserman, 50 – the married LA 2028 Olympics chief and music mogul behind Billie Eilish and Coldplay – is a ‘serial cheater’ who slept with a string of female staff
Read More

EXCLUSIVECasey Wasserman, 50 – the married LA 2028 Olympics chief and music mogul behind Billie Eilish and Coldplay – is a ‘serial cheater’ who slept with a string of female staff

The mogul heading up the Los Angeles Summer Olympics is a serial cheater who 'has had a chronic condition of sleeping with people who work for him,' DailyMail.com has learned. Casey Wasserman 'love bombed' potential conquests, showered them with Louboutin shoes, La Perla lingerie, handbags, and even Range Rovers – but when his interest waned
Exclusive — JD Vance: Kamala Harris Has Been a Disaster on the Border, Face of Globalism
Read More

Exclusive — JD Vance: Kamala Harris Has Been a Disaster on the Border, Face of Globalism

Vice President Kamala Harris’s policies have “led directly to what we’re seeing” on the southern border, Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, said during an interview on Breitbart News Saturday. Vance, who visited the United States-Mexico border this week, said, “Seeing it with your own eyes, Matt, makes you realize how
US Fed’s favored inflation measure cools further in June
Read More

US Fed’s favored inflation measure cools further in June

The US Federal Reserve’s favored inflation measure eased further in June, according to government data published Friday, in more good news for policymakers ahead of next week’s interest rate decision. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index eased to an annual rate of 2.5 percent in June, the Commerce Department said in a statement, down
Four States Receive Fuel Waivers to Offset Gas Prices
Read More

Four States Receive Fuel Waivers to Offset Gas Prices

Four Midwest states were granted fuel waivers on Thursday to offset gas prices after a big oil refinery was shut down. Exxon Mobil closed down its 248,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Joliet, Illinois, 40 miles southwest of Chicago, last month after a tornado caused a power outage on July 15. While power was restored at the