One of the men charged in the kidnapping of a Connecticut doctor outside the troubled Brooklyn Mirage music venue claimed not to know the alleged victim, telling The Post “What doctor?” after a hearing in the wild case Monday.
“I didn’t do anything. And anyone with common sense can tell that I didn’t do anything,” Steve Daley said as he left Stamford Superior Court, before denying knowledge altogether of his accuser, Dr. Michael Bautista, when asked if he wanted to say anything to him.
Daley, 50, faces a charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping for allegedly helping to take the 32-year-old ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon hostage after a show at the Mirage on July 21.
Bautista, of Norwalk, was allegedly forced to shell out more than $6,000 for sneakers, a strip club visit, haircuts, pizza, and smoothies, during a wild late-night spending spree through Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan.
Co-defendant Anthony Benjamin, 42, allegedly claimed to have a gun with him during the night — and told Bautista “If you do anything funny, I’ll kill you,” according to law enforcement sources.
Benjamin, who also had a hearing scheduled Monday, was a no-show — and his defense attorney, Benjamin Aponte, provided no reason for his absence, telling the court he hadn’t heard from his client since he appeared at his last court date Nov. 7.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Daley said when asked about Benjamin’s failure to show.
Prosecutors asked for a continuance for more time to interview Bautista, and the judge set the next court date for Jan. 5 for both defendants.
Despite the severity of the charges against them, both Daley and Benjamin were allowed to walk free on a “promise to appear” back in court throughout their proceedings, The Post previously reported.
But the Bronx address Benjamin gave authorities was outdated — residents and neighbors said in August that he hadn’t lived there for around five years. A phone number he provided was also wrong.
The pair were initially facing bails of $1 million and $250,000 before being cut loose. It remains unclear why they were allowed to walk.
Bautista alleged that he jumped into a taxi driven by Daley after the show at the Mirage — reportedly a draw for criminals looking to take advantage of intoxicated patrons in the neighborhood — but found Benjamin already in the backseat, according to a Norwalk Police report.
They allegedly refused to take the doctor to his car as requested, and instead whisked him off first to a nightclub, then on to other stops while Benjamin allegedly said he was “packing” and that he’d “put people in body bags before” and wasn’t scared to “let bullets fly.”
Bautista said he played along with his kidnappers, and by the end of the night finally convinced them to drop him off at his hospital by telling them he was on call and it would be suspicious if he didn’t show up, according to the police report.
Once inside, he notified security and Benjamin and Daley were arrested.
Benjamin was charged with second-degree kidnapping with a firearm and possession of a controlled substance, while Daley was charged with conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping.
Bautista couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.
