Akeem Ajimotokan, the 33-year-old man who was found beaten, his ear nearly sliced off, and stuffed in the back of his own BMW, is still in critical condition today. According to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, he is in a coma and breathing with the aid of a ventilator; his family members flew into NYC yesterday to see Ajimotokan, a lawyer who works at Columbia University. Police believe Ajimotokan was assualted by the BMW-obsessed Barion A. Blake, who answered an advertisement the victim had posted on the web offering to sell his car.
According to Kelly, Blake "had some discussions with his wife" about having done something awful that would cause his life to end, and also threatened to shoot himself. The Times wonders whether this is an example of how the internet can be used by criminals to "case the joint" before a crime: "This is expected to happen more and more, because of the anonymity of the Internet...[Bad guys] can sit home and basically do surveillance on who’s got what to sell. And there is no vetting that you can do, or that is done,” said Michael A. L. Balboni, who was a top public safety aide to two governors.
