Mastic man charged after boxcutter stabbing outside Farmingville deli

A Saturday morning dispute inside a Farmingville deli escalated into a boxcutter stabbing, and Suffolk County police said a 24-year-old Mastic man now faces assault and weapons charges.

Christian Evans, of 58 Sherwood Drive in Mastic, got into an argument with another man inside Mooney Pond Deli at 374 Mooney Pond Road at about 9:05 a.m. on May 16, police said. Investigators said Evans then went outside and stabbed the victim with a boxcutter before fleeing the scene.

Police said officers arrested Evans 16 minutes later, at 9:21 a.m., at the 7-Eleven at 358 Mooney Pond Road, only a short distance from the deli. The swift arrest kept the case contained to the same commercial stretch of Mooney Pond Road, where morning traffic moves between neighborhood businesses and small retail stops.

The victim was taken by a stranger to a local hospital, police said. His injuries were not considered life-threatening. That bystander response, along with the rapid police response, helped move the injured man to treatment quickly after the attack outside the deli.

Evans was charged with two counts of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Police said he was expected to be held overnight at the Fourth Precinct before an arraignment scheduled for May 17 in First District Court in Central Islip.

Suffolk County police have not said what led to the argument or whether the men knew each other before the confrontation. That gap leaves the motive unclear, but the sequence inside Mooney Pond Deli and outside on Mooney Pond Road turned a routine stop in Farmingville into a violent weapons case in broad daylight. For residents who use the deli, the nearby 7-Eleven and surrounding stores, the arrest underscored how quickly a public dispute can turn serious in an ordinary neighborhood business district.