Police are searching for Barion A. Blake, 30, an ex-convict with previous arrests for stealing BMWs, who is wanted for questioning in regards to the man found Wednesday bound and gagged (with an ear partially torn off) in the back of a 2008 BMW M3 coupe. Apparently the theory that the whole thing was a car sale gone very wrong is looking to be correct. Further, it turns out the story also involves a car chase that ended with a police car flipped over into the snow.
Police have identified the man in the back of the beemer as Akeem Ajimotokan, 33, a Columbia University employee who had listed the car on Cars.com for $46,000. It is still unknown when Ajimotokan met up with Blake (the former is still in a coma and the latter is on the lam) but here are some of the things that are known:
- Blake has a thing for stealing BMWs, having been caught in possession of them multiple times.
- Around 3 a.m. the night before the BMW was abandoned in Inwood a police officer in Nassau County spotted it pulled on the side of the road as two people outside swapped its license plates. When the officer went to inquire about it, the men jumped into the vehicle and took off. "The officer followed the BMW in a marked squad car but lost control on the snow-covered streets, and his car flipped over."
- The car was next seen in Inwood the next morning when it got in a fender-bender with a cab, leading the driver (suspected to be Blake) to flee on foot.
- Along with the body of Ajimotokan police also found several .38-caliber bullets "sprinkled in the car’s blood-spattered interior" as well as a bill of sale for the vehicle from Ajimotokan to Blake dated January 25.
- Relatives say that Ajimotokan is "fighting for his life."
Police are looking to question Blake, who also uses the alias Adrian Burnett, in the case. He is described as standing 6"8' with tattoos of the name "Tasha" on his left hand, a scroll with scripture on his forearm and Chinese writing on his upper arm.
