RED HOOK — A cabdriver who works for a car service contracted by Ikea threatened to kill another cabbie during a fight over fares in front of the megastore last week, police and store officials said.
The licensed taxi driver got into a dispute with the 51-year-old victim about 7:10 p.m. on Feb. 13, telling the other cabbie, "I'm going to kill you" before pushing him and snatching his $500 Toyota car key, according to police.
The driver works for car service company Safari, which has a branch at the 1 Beard St. store and has a contract with Ikea to pick up customers at the location, an Ikea spokeswoman said.
He was arrested and charged with petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and harassment, police said.
Attorney information was not immediately available. Safari did not immediately comment.
► Two days later, an ex-con was busted for stealing $637 worth of Ikea merchandise from the store at 9:58 p.m., police said.
Anthony Alvelo, 43, was seen on surveillance footage putting roughly 14 different items into his car, according to police and the criminal complaint.
The items included a $200 piece of Hemnes furniture, a $50 Luroy slatted bed base, a $70 piece of Forbluffad cooking equipment, and half a dozen Choklad chocolates, all of which was recovered, the police report said.
Alvelo was arrested twice between 1996 and 1998 for possession of stolen property, according to the state Department of Corrections.
He most recently served 6-and-a-half years for a burglary in Brooklyn, a DOC spokeswoman said.
Alvelo was charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property for the Ikea theft, police said. His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 26, and he was being held on $2,500 bond, according to court records.
Alvelo’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Editor's Note: The initial version of this story did not indicate that the arrested driver worked for a car service contracted by Ikea. It has been amended to reflect the new information provided by store officials after the story was published.
