New York waiter gets manslaughter conviction for stabbing colleague over $20 tip dispute

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A waiter at a New York restaurant was convicted of manslaughter for stabbing a co-worker with a broken bottle during an argument over $20 worth of tips, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

David Jimenez Salazar, 25, was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of fatally stabbing 37-year-old busser Elvin Padilla on July 16, 2020 at the Hicksville restaurant on Long Island where they both worked, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

The fatal dispute happened during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic when the owners of the restaurant, La Candela, had instituted a policy that waiters were to share 30% of their tips with bussers.

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Padilla accused Salazar of withholding $20 in tips, and the two began arguing and shoving each other, the district attorney said in a news release.

According to prosecutors, Padilla exited the kitchen and headed to the bar, where Salazar was waiting for him.

Long Island waiter David Jimenez Salazar was convicted of manslaughter for the 2020 stabbing of a colleague with a jagged, broken vodka bottle over a tipping dispute.

Salazar picked up a vodka bottle and swung it at Padilla, striking him, prosecutors said. He then broke the bottle on the counter and swung it again at Padilla, stabbing him in the jugular with the jagged-edged bottleneck, they said. Padilla was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Salazar faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 16.

Salazar's attorney, Karl C. Seman, said his client acted after Padilla had grabbed a wine bottle and charged at him.

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"At no time did the defendant ever intend to cause the death of his co-worker," Seman said, adding that Salazar "is exploring his appellate avenues."