A man who battered a motorist in a Queens parking lot brawl turned himself in to cops this week, providing a bizarre explanation for his delay in coming forward.
Mathew Nicola, 25, was arrested nearly two months after being caught on video as part of a mother-daughter duo who attacked a female motorist and hurled racial slurs because she stole their “saved” spot on a Ridgewood street on July 7.
“Honestly, I was going through a lot of things in my life, so I couldn’t really turn myself in right away,” Nicola explained outside Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday. “But I took care of it.”
Nicola was seen in the now-viral video throwing punches at Pace College student Jada McPherson, 21, as the driver collided with 45-year-old Andrea Dumitru and her daughter Sabrina Starman, 21.
Dumitru and Starman were arrested and charged with assault following the attack, but Nicola fled and only surrendered to police this week.
“I do feel bad for what I did,” Nicola admitted. “So we could simply leave it at that. “I do not want to be an a-hole.”
The brawl broke out when McPherson attempted to park her car and discovered Dumitru, Starman, and Nicola standing in an open spot. McPherson left them, but when she couldn’t find another, she returned and said she’d take it.
But the group refused, and when she got out of the car to confront them, she claimed Nicola went “ballistic” and the brawl erupted.
“You’re a monkey, bitch,” Dumitru yelled at one point, followed by Starman yelling, “You’re an f-king slave bitch.” “You’re a slave for what it’s worth,” they said, walloping McPherson, who is black.
McPherson replied by calling Dumitru a “immigrant bitch.”
Nicola was charged with third-degree assault, and a judge granted McPherson an order of protection against him, which she claims has given her some relief.
“Honestly, I’m glad it happened. Finally. It’s simply relieving. The situation was traumatic. So it’s very reassuring that I now have the order of protection,” she said after learning the news.
Nicola was released after being charged, and McPherson, who moved away from the Queens neighborhood where the attack occurred days later, is concerned that he may pose a threat to other women on her old block.
“I just feel like he should reflect on what he did and, you know, putting his hands on a female and stuff like that,” she told me. “I hope you bring light to the situation so it doesn’t happen again.”
Nicola is due back in court on October 27. Dumitru and Starman, who were also released following their arrests, are due in court on September 9.
The three are not related, but neighbors told The Post that Nicola came from a difficult background and was treated as a nephew by Dumitru, whom he referred to as his “aunt.”
“This isn’t his aunt. It’s someone who looked after him,” said Bikash K., who used to work with Nicola at a restaurant but fired him because he was a “short fuse guy” who was “always on edge.”
Nicola’s former boss was surprised to see him participate in the beating.
“I grew up in Ridgewood, and I’ve witnessed fights over parking — that was excessive. “They were acting stupid, his aunt and him,” he lamented. “I sympathize with the lady who was hurt. I’m with her on this. “They were completely out of line.”
McPherson is about to start a new semester at Pace, and she hopes that this final arrest will allow her to move on from what has been a dreadful summer.
“It just caught so much media attention and everything,” she told me.
