[size=18pt]Man in Trunk Is Identified; Driver Sought[/size]

The man found stabbed and in critical condition inside the trunk of a high-end BMW was identified Thursday as a 33-year-old attorney who worked for Columbia University and who had been trying to sell the vehicle, authorities said.

Akeem Ajimotokan, of West New York, N.J., was in a coma after he was discovered Wednesday stabbed and bound in the trunk of his own 2008 BMW M3, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said. Mr. Ajimotokan remained in stable condition at Harlem Hospital Thursday. He was saved when the driver of the vehicle rear-ended a yellow taxi at corner of 10th Avenue and Dyckman Street in Inwood, near the exit ramp from the Harlem River Drive, at about 9:10 a.m.

The driver of the taxi called 911 as the driver of the BMW fled, police said. Responding officers noticed blood inside the car and several .38 caliber bullets in "plain view," the official said. They forced the trunk open and found Mr. Ajimotokan with his hands bound with zip ties and unconscious, the official said.

The victim had several cuts to his head and body and puncture wounds to his left lung and left ribs, the official said.

Investigators found a bill of sale inside the car dated Jan. 25, listing Mr. Ajimotokan as the seller and the name of the buyer, who the official identified as Barion Blake, 30, of the Dyckman Housing Development on 10th Avenue, near the scene of the crash. Mr. Blake, who was being sought Thursday, allegedly placed license plates stolen from a Toyota in Queens on the BMW, the official said.

According to the official, Mr. Blake spoke to his wife by telephone before the accident, telling her "he had done something awful that was going to cause his life to be over." After the fender-bender, he went to their apartment and again appeared distraught, taking out a handgun and threatening to shoot himself, the wife told police.

He didn't pull the trigger and instead took some clothes and fled the apartment, the official said. Mr. Blake, who is described as being 6 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 230 pounds, has 11 prior arrests dating back to 1999, including arrests for assault and car theft, the official said. He was paroled in December 2008 after serving almost two years on an assault charge, records show.

Mr. Ajimotokan had the BMW listed for sale on several used car websites, where he posted his cellphone number and indicated he was looking for $46,000 or the best offer for the electric blue sports car with 31,000 miles on it. Police are trying to determine if he was lured by his attacker through the ads and if the attack was initiated during a car sale, the official said.

The law enforcement official said surveillance video from Mr. Ajimotokan's residence in New Jersey shows the victim with a man who fits the description of Mr. Blake on Tuesday. The two men appear together at various times, finally leaving the building together at about 11:00 p.m, the official said. At one point, the victim is seen taking the license plates off the BMW, the official said.

Hours later, at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, a Nassau County police officer saw a man fitting Mr. Blake's description putting license plates on a blue BMW in front of 247 Jericho Turnpike in Bellrose, N.Y. When the officer stopped to investigate, the man took off in the BMW and led the officer on a chase on the Cross Island Parkway, the official said. The Nassau officer crashed during the pursuit, and the BMW was able to escape, the official said.

The officer, who is currently hospitalized, will be shown a photo array to determine if Mr. Blake was the man behind the wheel of the BMW he spotted, the official said.

The law enforcement official said Mr. Ajimotokan is an attorney who did legal work for Columbia University. A profile on the website LinkedIn says he graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2004.

EzeUche_:

Why are African Americans targeting Nigerians? This is unbelievable. How many of our people have to be killed in that country?

asha 80:

are you not there?

asha 80:

i will rather be dead than survive this.

eku_bear:

How on earth was he supposed to know the guy lives in the projects?

Probably thought he was an athlete or something, something respectable.

buzugee:

you think he will be a vegetable ?

eku_bear:

How on earth was he supposed to know the guy lives in the projects?

Probably thought he was an athlete or something, something respectable.

buzugee:

you think he will be a vegetable ?

EzeUche_:

The man's mannerisms is a clear giveaway.

And the way he talks. People in the projects have a different aura about them that is different from middle class blacks.

EzeUche_:

The man's mannerisms is a clear giveaway.

And the way he talks. People in the projects have a different aura about them that is different from middle class blacks. [

fstranger1:

I really do not see how living in a project made this guy commit such heinous crime.

My former EMT partner lived in the project and he was a gentle man in the true sense of the world.

We really have to be careful here.

asha 80:

please guys what do you guys mean by projects?is it like council flats or hand outs?

eku_bear:

Places that look like this: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/zerot001/architecture/ghetto.jpg

http://abagond.files./2010/07/bronx-ghetto.jpg

People who live in places like that, you do not invite to your house. Especially late at night.

EzeUche_:

Sorry but I don't really trust ghetto people in the U.S. I have been around them long enough to know the good ones, and the ones who are up to no good. Many Nigerians or foreigners in general do not know what they are capable of. Just go to Washington, DC, Philly, Baltimore etc.

eku_bear:

Places that look like this: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/zerot001/architecture/ghetto.jpg

http://abagond.files./2010/07/bronx-ghetto.jpg

People who live in places like that, you do not invite to your house. Especially late at night.

fstranger1:

That is just not true.

My uncle's friend lived in a project when he first got here and now he works as a lawyer in MSG.

I detect a sense of fear-mongering by suggesting that only bad people live in projects. This post would surely be appropiated by those who believe that Blacks living in the projects, i.e. AA, are all wicked and animal-like in behavior. This post has essentially rephrased “they are mostly poor!” into “they are all murderers!"

eku_bear:

Anyone good moves out of the ghetto as soon as they can. Simple as that. Anybody who is still in the ghetto isn't worth interacting with.

I think when we first moved to the US, we lived in some ghetto in New York. I was 4 at the time. I don't remember much from those days, but they were not pleasant. Within a few months we moved out of there.