Farmingdale man stabs, kills co-worker during fight at Hicksville restaurant, Nassau police say

A 22-year-old restaurant worker was arraigned on a murder charge Friday after police said he stabbed a co-worker in the neck, killing him, during a fight at a Peruvian restaurant in Hicksville Thursday.

David Jimenez Salazar of Farmingdale is charged with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Nassau County police said Salazar and a co-worker got into a fight at La Candela Peruvian Restaurant on South Broadway around 10:40 p.m. Police said during the fight Salazar stabbed the 37-year-old co-worker, identified as Elvin Padilla of Hicksville, in the neck with a piece of glass, killing him.

Padilla was pronounced dead at the scene by a Nassau County police medic, police said.

Salazar was arrested at the scene without incident, police said. He was remanded into custody at his arraignment Friday. An attempt to reach his attorney was unsuccessful. 

Additional details were not immediately available. The investigation by Homicide Squad detectives is ongoing.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”