A Queens man plunged to his death from a window in his apartment complex on Monday as he was being served an eviction notice by a New York City marshal, DNAinfo reported.
David Arfa, 61, was in the process of being evicted from his fifth-floor Wetherole Street apartment for unpaid rent stretching back to last December. A social worker and marshal knocked on Arfa's door somewhere between 12:30 p.m. and 12:40 p.m., but the man didn't answer, a source told DNAinfo. Arfa fell four stories, landing on the ground near the rear of the building, Law enforcement officials and medical authorities pronounced him dead at the scene.
The troubled Rego Park resident had a history of psychiatric problems and wasn't able to pay his increased rent after his mother, Lillian, died, the New York Daily News reported.
A fellow tenant who lives on the same floor as Arfa told DNAinfo that the man was a loner and seemed depressed a lot of the time.
"He kept to himself," the neighbor, who would only give his first name as Peter, told reporters. "He was a very nice man, very gentlemanly."
City marshals only bring court ordered eviction notices after long legal processes that can stretch several months in housing court, according to the Department of Investigations website. So far, there isn't any evidence to suggest that the marshal acted wrongfully in executing the court order.
