K2 Drug Feud May Have Sparked Lower East Side Stabbing: NYPD

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Police believe a homeless man was fatally stabbed inside a Lower East Side park Saturday in an argument over the drug K2, authorities said.

Arturo Valdez, 23, was stabbed in the chest in Sara D. Roosevelt Park near Christie and East Houston streets at roughly 2:15 p.m., police said. Medics rushed Valdez to Beth Israel Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The fatal stabbing happened mere steps from the glamorous Public Hotel.

On Sunday, police arrested 70-year-old Larry Fullewellen, who is also homeless, and charged him with second-degree murder for the stabbing.

Fullewellen was arrested in Port Authority Bus Terminal and was carrying a bloody knife with him at the time, police sources told the New York Daily News.

Sara D. Roosevelt Park has a reputation as a den for drug dealers and users, and in December 2017 a man was stabbed in broad daylight on a park bench after arguing with another park goer.

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