Two Hawks Players Arrested For Trying To Stop Police From Setting Up A Crime Scene After Chris Copeland's Stabbing

NYDN – A former member of the New York Knicks now playing for the Indiana Pacers was stabbed in the abdomen — and his wife slashed — during an argument at 1 OAK club in Chelsea early Wednesday, cop sources said. Chris Copeland’s attacker was arrested, and two members of the Atlanta Hawks, Pero Anti? and Thabo Sefolosha, were also booked, for trying to prevent police from setting up a crime scene, the sources said.

A second woman was also stabbed amid the fracas, which happened shortly before 4 a.m., as the popular club on West 17th St. was preparing to close. An argument erupted as Copeland, the other victims and the suspect were leaving, the sources said. The man who was arrested, Shezoy Bleary, 22, pulled out a knife and stabbed Copeland, 31, and slashed 28-year-old Katrine Saltara, described by investigators as Copeland’s wife, in the arm and leg, the sources said. The second woman, Catherine Somani, 53, was slashed in the abdomen, the sources said.

Copeland came to New York because the Pacers are playing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The Hawks, meanwhile, will tip off against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center on Wednesday. Copeland and Saltara were rushed to Bellevue Hospital and were in stable condition, the sources said. Somani was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital. When police arrived at the scene, they busted Bleary and recovered a knife, sources said. Charges against him were pending. Sefolosha, 30, and Anti?, 32, refused to move when police tried to set up a crime scene, the sources said. They were charged with obstructing governmental administration.

Sefolosha and Anti? had been in the city no more than a few hours before the incident, as they spent Tuesday night in Atlanta, scoring a combined 32 points to help the Hawks beat the Phoenix Suns.

I know all of this sounds pretty dumb. Copeland probably shouldn’t be at a club with his wife getting into knife fights at 3 AM. Thabo and Pero are sitting on the 1 seed in the East. They probably shouldn’t be trying to block off New York City crime scenes on a Wednesday morning. All 3 of them have games today that are pretty important. Pacers are chasing the 8 seed and the Hawks are playing a Nets team who’s unprotected draft pick they get this year. So yeah. Pretty dumb all around. And clearly, I hope that everybody who got stabbed is OK. But say what you will about the stupidity of the situation, you’ve got to admire Antic and Sefolosha’s will to go party. They had quite the night.

Those two combined for 32 points in a professional basketball game, did a cross country commute from Phoenix to NYC, turned up in the club, saw a little attempted homicide, spent the night in jail… All in the span of like 8 hours. What a life. If I get home later than 8 o’clock, I pretty much just go straight for a pair of sweatpants and call it a night. Only stabbing I’m likely to witness is a Game of Thrones rerun. So you can call them dumb and irresponsible all you want but don’t you dare say they don’t know how to party efficiently.

P.S. Hey Catherine Somani, you’re too old to be getting stabbed at the club. 53? Really? Some bouncer isn’t doing his job.