A Brooklyn ex-con admitted he stabbed his neighbor to death – then knifed the dead man’s dog – in an unhinged attack inside a Brooklyn apartment, according to cops and court records.
Anthony Sabato, 37 – who has 17 prior arrests – was busted for the deadly knife attack on neighbor Thomas Machalchick, also 37, that unfolded around 8 a.m. Friday inside the supportive housing complex where they lived on Sands Street in downtown Brooklyn, authorities said.
Sabato demanded that Machalchick fork over his phone and “other property” before grabbing a knife and swinging it at him, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Criminal Court.
Machalchick was left with a mortal stab wound to his torso, police said.
He was taken to New York Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, cops said.
Sabato also used the same knife to stab the Machalchick’s pet pit bull in the upper left shoulder, according to cops and the complaint.
The dog was treated at a local animal hospital but was expected to recover.
After the vicious stabbing, Sabato could be seen on surveillance video clutching a knife and holding a bag as he fled into his own apartment, according to the court doc.
He was arrested and charged Saturday with murder in the first and second degrees, first-degree robbery, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of a weapon and torturing or injuring an animal, according to the complaint.
Sabato – who admitted to stabbing both his neighbor and the pup, according to the complaint – was ordered held without bail by a Brooklyn judge.
Sabato’s 17 prior arrests include a 2017 Manhattan bust for assault on a police officer, authorities said.
State Department of Corrections records show that he served about two years behind bars for attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon, from May 2018 until July 2020.
His parole expired in April 2021.
