"Oz" Actor Arrested in Elevator Shaft Club Death

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Sun Feb 04, 2007 at 07:41:57 PM EST
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What a tragic story. Orlando Valle, 35, who worked in the mailroom at the New York Public Libary, was celebrating his birthday with family at the trendy nightclub BED in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

The maitre-d'/ manager is 43 year old Granville Adams, who played Muslim inmate leader Zahir Arif on HBO's prison series "Oz."

[Valle] got into a scuffle with Adams and was thrown against the elevator with such force that the doors opened and he plunged four stories to his death, cops said.

Adams was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide.

More on Adams:

Granville Adams played prisoner Zahir Arif in the acclaimed HBO series 'Oz.' Adams appeared in 24 episodes of the show between 1997 and 2003, portraying a character serving 18 years for assault and possession of stolen goods. Arif became a leader of the fictional prison's Muslim inmates. Adams also appeared in a dozen episodes of NBC's 'Homicide: Life on the Street' between 1996 and 1999, playing the role of a cop named Jeff Westby. He also had a small part in the 2002 film 'Empire' and has several television guest-starring credits.

The fight sounds so unnecessary.

Valle's niece Tiffany Turner, 20, was trying to get her coat when a manager later identified as Adams made a gesture toward her, a police source said. The coat-check woman, who apparently is dating Adams, noticed and started screaming at Turner. "That's my man!" the jealous worker hollered. "That's my man!"

As the fight escalated, Adams and another man who works at BED walked toward Turner, witnesses told the Daily News. One of them pushed her to the floor, and Valle stepped in. "What the f--- is your problem?" Valle barked. "Why did you do that?"

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"Oz" Actor Arrested in Elevator Shaft Club Death | 4 comments (4 topical)

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sounds like the coat-check woman should have been (none / 0) (#1)
by cpinva on Sun Feb 04, 2007 at 11:04:02 PM EST

arrested as well, since she was a director contributor to the ensuing events. the third man, the other employee, should have been arrested for assault.

How seedy is W 27 St? (none / 0) (#2)
by Dom on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:18:06 AM EST

You can look up the elevator records here. The club paid a $500 elevator-related fine in 2005.

Apart from the tragic death or homicide, and assuming that the newspaper's account is reasonably accurate, the idea of one or more staff members physically assaulting a young girl to defend the ex-celebrity maitre-d's virtue seems bizarre. This bar is close to where Gustavo Cuadros was shot (outside 559 W 22nd St). Is this coindicence, or par for the course of New York night life?

Same building, more trouble. (none / 0) (#3)
by Dom on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 12:31:21 AM EST

It appears that another nightclub (Spirit) in the very same building was closed by the State Liquor Authority [PDF link] just last month.

Dom (none / 0) (#4)
by cpinva on Mon Feb 05, 2007 at 10:08:46 AM EST

the whole incident sounds bizarre, at least by the newspaper's account. why the coat-check woman started screeching is a mystery to me. that seems to have been the catalyst for everything else that happened.

perhaps, there's a reason why she's a coat-checker, she doesn't come off as quite the brightest bulb in the box. nor, do the other two. maybe mr. adams just started taking his PR a little too seriously?