A flashy Manhattan restaurateur who calls himself the Harlem Gatsby is accused of drunkenly punching a stranger so hard that he left the man with severe brain damage, The Post has learned.
The saga began when dapper Manhattan businessman Dard Coaxum — the former co-owner of the posh French bistro Cedric — found a credit card on the floor of Suite 308 during a night of partying on June 26, 2015.
Coaxum, 46, returned the card to its owner, Julio Torres, 43 — and then demanded a drink for his good deed, according to prosecutor Joshua Steinglass at Coaxum’s recent misdemeanor-assault trial in Manhattan Criminal Court. Torres blew him off, the ADA said.
By chance, the two men then ended up at the same deli later that morning, where Torres was being “loud and obnoxious” and behaving like a “boisterous drunk,” the prosecutor said.
Surveillance video from inside the shop, Gourmet Deli, showed Torres munching on a bag of potato chips as he wobbled on his feet and offering the snack to Coaxum’s girlfriend.
A fed-up Coaxum finally stalked over to Torres, an event planner, and sucker-punched him in the face, according to Steinglass.
Torres called Coaxum a “punk” and “f–king mutt” and taunted him to “go ahead and hit me!” as he called 911, authorities said.
Coaxum and his friends tried to walk away, but Torres pursued him, according to surveillance video.
Coaxum kicked Torres, hurled his bags at him and threw his cellphone at his face, prosecutors said. When the victim continued to pursue, Coaxum turned around and chased him out of camera range, delivering the “coup de grâce” punch that knocked him head-first to the ground, Steinglass said.
“[Torres] toppled over like a tree that had been chopped down, cracking his head on the pavement,” the prosecutor told the panel of eight jurors last week before Judge Ann Scherzer.
Torres, the father of a 2-year-old, remains unconscious, no longer speaking, walking or feeding himself, according to court testimony.
Defense lawyer Anthony Ricco argued that Torres was the real aggressor and that Coaxum tried to walk away at least seven times.
Coaxum, who faces up to a year in jail, works in PR at the popular eatery Harlem Shake, where his daughter is a partner, according to his LinkedIn profile.