A man and woman charged with attacking former Gov. David Paterson and his stepson — son of Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa — during a bizarre late-night quarrel on the Upper East Side are claiming they are the true victims.
Travor Nurse and Diamond Minter were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday, where their lawyers presented a starkly different take on the clash late Friday outside a McDonald’s on Second Ave near E. 96th St.
Assistant District Attorney Zachary Campbell said 20-year-old Anthony Sliwa first encountered a group of youths earlier in the night while walking his dog and argued with them for attempting to climb a fire escape outside his building.
Later that night, while out walking with Paterson, the prosecutor said, Sliwa re-encountered the group by the fast food restaurant and got into another argument, at which point two NYCHA employees, Nurse and Minter, “took it upon themselves to intervene.”
Campbell said that Sliwa shoved Nurse, 40, into a vestibule, then traded swings with him and Minter, 34.
Nurse allegedly then threw Sliwa to the ground, and two young boys, aged 12 and 13 — who have since been charged in family court — began kicking and stomping on him as Minter allegedly held back Sliwa’s arms while he struggled to defend himself.
When the fight began to fizzle out, Nurse started to walk away, only to turn back and smack Paterson in the back of the head with a closed fist, sending him crashing to the ground, the prosecutor said.
Nurse then swung again at Sliwa, who had just gotten up from the ground, Campbell said.
Sliwa, whose mother, Mary Paterson, was previously married to the Guardian Angels founder and Republican candidate for mayor, was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell and treated for pain to his face. He needed stitches for a bust lip. Paterson, 70, New York’s first Black governor, who served from 2008 to 2010, was treated for pain to his head, according to court docs.
Nurse’s lawyer, Jeff Chabrowe, vehemently protested his client’s innocence and said Nurse walked away from the dustup with more severe injuries than anyone involved — dislocating his shoulder in four places and suffering a large gash above his eye.
Chabrowe referenced a detailed radio interview Paterson, who is legally blilnd, gave on Monday in which he referenced his stepson’s black belt in jiu-jitsu and described Sliwa slamming one of the juvenile’s heads into a window.
“He was able to defend himself quite successfully,” Chabrowe said in court.
Minter’s public defender, Zachary Wechsler, said his client has no criminal record and intervened when she saw two adults accosting children.
Prosecutors charged Nurse with one count of assault and Minter with two counts. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Pamela Goldsmith set Nurse’s bail at $50,000 bond and released Minter on supervised release. She issued orders of protection mandating they stay away from the former governor and his stepson.
The DA’s office is expected to present the case to a grand jury on Friday.
After the hearing, Chabrowe told the Daily News Sliwa was the primary assailant and that his client was attempting to come to the children’s aid.
“My client arrived after the fact, when former Governor Paterson and Mr. Sliwa were already in a confrontation with some juveniles, and was trying to act as a peacemaker when Mr. Sliwa attacked him,” Chabrowe.
“I’m confident that after further investigation, the DA’s office will certainly see this and we look forward to clearing his name.”
