Albanian gunned down in Bronx
TIRANA, Aug 10 – Police were canvassing the Bronx’s Little Italy on Thursday for clues to the early morning rubout of a local gambler.
Anton Spaqi, 65, was gunned down at 4 a.m. Wednesday outside his apartment building on Hughes Ave., just behind the Arthur Avenue Retail Market.
Spaqi, former owner of the Belmont Caffe Lounge, was coming home from a bartending job in Queens when he was gunned down, neighbors said. He still had nearly $2,000 in cash on him, leading cops to discount robbery as a motive, sources said.
Spaqi, originally from Albania, had more than a dozen prior arrests and had served time on charges of assault and immigrant smuggling, officials said. He was also arrested in a slaying in 1994 though not convicted on that charge.
Detectives were looking for possible motives, including any links to the local Albanian mob.
Hours after the shooting, friends and associates of the victim gathered in a half-dozen Albanian social clubs in the Belmont neighborhood talking about the killing. None seemed surprised.
Onlookers in the quiet enclave of the Bronx had mixed feelings about neighborhood safety.
