Venezuelan national stabs friend at Gilgo Beach, tries to slash his throat, DA says

With friends like this, who needs enemies?

Ruben Guanipa Ramirez, 26, a Venezuelan national, allegedly picked up a friend from his Queens home on Feb. 28, took him out for a night of pool in Baldwin, drove him Jones Beach and finally took him to Gilgo Beach before attacking him from behind outside his black 2024 Lexus NX250, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said Ramirez crept up behind him the victim, covered his mouth with a black cloth, and stabbed him in the left side. The approach, combined with the rope, duct tape and plastic drop cloths that authorities found later in his car, suggested to investigators that the attack was premeditated and methodical, authorities said.

During the assault, Ramirez — who on Tuesday in Suffolk County Court pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault — additionally tried to slit his friend’s throat during the attack, prosecutors said. Somehow, the victim managed to fight back.

In the struggle, the victim, who was not identified by authorities, sustained deep defensive wounds to both hands. Still, he managed to wrestle the knife away from Ramirez, according to authorities.

With the blade now in the victim’s hands, both men briefly back into Ramirez’s car. Ramirez soon got out of the car and was left on the side of the road by the victim, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

Bleeding and unfamiliar with the area, the victim called 911 and reached a friend. He drove to the friend’s house in Queens, where NYPD officers were waiting, Tierney said. An ambulance took him to a local hospital, where he was treated for his stab wounds.

Ramirez was arrested later that day after he was spotted walking along the Long Island Expressway in Nassau County.

When investigators searched his car, they found three kitchen knives (one reportedly covered in blood), rope, duct tape, blankets, plastic drop cloths, a large wheeled bag, gloves and a box cutter.

“This defendant allegedly drove a man that he knew to a remote beach and attacked him from behind with a knife,” said District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney. “The evidence recovered from his vehicle raises serious questions about what he intended that night. We are committed to holding him accountable for the full extent of his alleged conduct.”

Ramirez is being held on $200,000 cash bail, $500,000 bond, or $2 million partially secured bond. He is due back in court April 29 and faces five to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count, according to prosecutors.

_{Top: Ruben Guanipa Ramirez (inset), Gilgo Beach (main, photo taken by Nicholas Esposito)}