A fistfight between a barber and a stylist on Staten Island ended in tragedy when one man died from his injuries. Barber Timothy Evans, 31, is accused of punching co-worker Michael Alao, 22, on April 30th at Forever Fridays barbershop. The fight reportedly started because Evans was angry over a broken clipper, and blamed Alao. “He was upset and an argument ensued,” regular John Dunkley told the Post. “It was a fistfight gone very wrong.”
In a statement to police, Evans said the argument started the day before the fistfight: "Mike proceeds to come off rudely, and words are spoken." Evans said he tried to stop the argument, but Alao kept it going: "I ended up walking out to leave out the shop to get away from everybody. As I leave, Mike comes after me in fight mode. I proceeded to defend myself. I didn't mean for things to go for [a] wrong turn as it did and I'm deeply apologetic and remorseful," Evans said. Evans hit Alao in the head, and suffered a fatal fracture to his skull in the fall. He died six days later of “blunt trauma” at Richmond University Medical Center.
Alao’s mother, Pamela, and girlfriend, Pamelo Johnson, said the fight was all over a misunderstanding; they claim that a couple of kids had accidentally dropped and broken the clippers. “[Evans] was blaming Michael because they broke. So the next day he hid Michael’s clippers And wouldn’t give them back. [Evans] was telling Michael, ‘You have to pay for the clippers.’ That’s when they got into the scuffle out back behind the barbershop,’ ” Johnson told the Post.
Evans, a convicted drug dealer who had finished parole in March after being released from prison in April 2012, was reportedly good friends with Alao, and once had helped Alao during a fight. Evans has been charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, though officials say the investigation is still open. Barber shop’s owner says the whole thing was an accident: “They worked side-by-side...I gave the police the video [surveillance]. You can see he slipped and fell,” said owner John Brumble.
