Man Kidnapped Near Brooklyn Mirage Makes 3rd Disappearance This Summer

EAST WILLIAMSBURG, NY — A Connecticut kidnapping case has been linked to Brooklyn Mirage, the troubled East Williamsburg venue where a Goldman Sachs analyst and a New York psychologist were last seen alive, according to the reports.

A Norwalk doctor was held captive for days after getting into a cab outside the Brooklyn Mirage on July 21, according to The Hour and Norwalk Police Department.

The Norwalk doctor was freed on July 23, when he told his suspected captors he had to go to work at Norwalk Hospital and told security about his kidnapping, The Hour reported.

Two suspected kidnappers, Anthony Benjamin of The Bronx and Steve Daley of Mount Vernon, were subsequently arrested and charged with kidnapping, police said.

Norwalk police would not confirm the location of the kidnapping.

The man is the third to go dark after leaving the Mirage this summer. On June 11, Karl Clemente, 27, vanished from the Brooklyn Mirage — his body was found five days later in Newton Creek, police said.

And just two months later, John Castic, 27, vanished near the venue on July 29 and turned up dead in the very same Creek on August 1, police said.

Brooklyn Mirage did not respond to Patch's request for comment.

"The heartbreaking and preventable deaths of Karl Clemente and John Castic, as well as the reported kidnapping from outside of the Mirage, highlight the need for basic public safety measures and street infrastructure in the East Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone," said City Council Member Jen Gutiérrez in a statement to Patch.

Music lovers say they've had enough.

A letter template addressed to Gutiérrez and circulated on social media demands electeds enforce new safety measures in the area, like surveillance cameras, better street lighting and stricter enforcement on vehicles allowed near the venue.

“As a member of the live music community, I have serious concerns regarding the safety of concert attendees at the Brooklyn Mirage,” the letter reads. "It has come to my attention that there is extreme negligence by the venue and their security team regarding the safety of patrons exiting the venue."

Gutiérrez agreed with her constituents that the East Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone was in dire need of safety improvements — adding that poor cell service in the area persists as an issue.

"I’m in agreement with many of the suggestions that constituents have made," Gutiérrez said. "I would add to their list a particular need to ensure cell service coverage in the area, which would require advocacy by the City to cellular carriers."

"The Industrial Business Zone has seen a significant expansion of nightlife in recent years. However, it lacks the necessary infrastructure investments and enhancements," electeds wrote in a statement after Castic and Clemente's deaths.

Gutiérrez told Gothamist she has spoken with the Mirage's owner, Billy Bildstein, since the two men died. While he seemed committed to ensuring nothing similar happens again, Gutiérrez also thought the venue's image was top of mind, she said.

The Mirage is no stranger controversy in recent years — and most recently, a patron slapped the massive venue with a $7.5 million lawsuit, contending he and others were sexually assaulted by hired security guards on June 25, according to court records and the Bushwick Daily.

"Many attendees were touched repeatedly, sometimes without consent and sometimes despite specifically refusing to consent, in their intimate areas, forced to spread their legs for extensive periods of time, and made to take off their pants and underwear," the patrons allege in the lawsuit.

City and state authorities have, in the past, raised concern about the level of drug use and deaths connected to the venue.