Steve Darbasie, the father of Tammuz Darbasie, who is currently being held on Rikers Island on $500,000 cash bail for first-degree manslaughter, is facing his own arrest for witness tampering through social media posts.
Darbasie’s son is charged with the 2020 fatal stabbing of Terrell Wigfall in Hell’s Kitchen, but Steve Darbasie has insisted that his son acted in self-defense against a gang assault.
Steve Darbasie, a 43-year-old salesman, has an arrest warrant issued by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for witness tampering over his Instagram account with the handle “Ratzzzz13.”
Video clips were posted on this account in December, showing witnesses being interviewed by the police and apparently identifying participants. The posts include images of pigs and rats, which are now under investigation.
Darbasie claimed that the video posted on his Instagram account was obtained by his son’s lawyer. Although he declined to identify who posted it, he stated that the police had traumatized his girlfriend when they stormed into his West 57th Street apartment looking for him in the early hours of Wednesday morning while he was out of town on business.
Darbasie’s petition on Change.org is to include gang assault in the law as a justification for self-defense. He criticized the DA’s office for their actions, stating that they will charge people with a felony for an Instagram post but allow career criminals to roam the streets.
The NYPD has referred all comments to the DA’s office, which has not confirmed whether a warrant has been issued.
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