Neighbors mourn Staten Island grandfather butchered breaking up fight among neighbors; ‘Friends with everybody’

A beloved 81-year-old Staten Island man butchered as he tried to break up a fight among his neighbors was remembered Saturday as the “grandfather” of his street by residents struggling to wrap their minds around the bloody carnage that took his life.

“It’s heartbreaking. The guy never harmed a fly,” a resident of Sunnyside Terrace said of Frank Pompilii, who was stabbed to death allegedly by a longtime neighbor during a bloody clash Friday night. “Frank was friends with everybody.”

Pompilii was repeatedly stabbed in the neck and body down the block from his home on Sunnyside Terrace, a bucolic, tree-lined street that includes single-family homes with lawns near Grand Ave. in Sunnyside.

The deadly confrontation erupted around 4:40 p.m. Friday, said cops.

Pompilii tried to break up a fight between three of his neighbors — identified by residents as Redzep (Richie) Cobaj, 78, his son Skender Cobaj, 51, and Ramazan Ramusevic, 57 — when Ramusevic began stabbing Pompilii and Cobaj, residents of the block said.

Cops found the Redzep Cobaj outside, suffering from multiple stab wounds. Entering the home, they found Ramusevic, a bloody knife still in his hand, a police source with knowledge of the case said.

The officers Tased and disarmed Ramusevic before taking him into custody, police said. During his arrest, he admitted to stabbing another man and Pompilii was found a short distance away, the police source said.

Pompilii was declared dead at the scene.

Redzep Cobaj remained hospitalized Saturday in critical condition, cops said. “He was with a cane. He was almost 80 years old,” said a resident who wished not to be named.

“If he got stabbed it’s going to be hard for him to survive,” the resident said of Cobaj.

Skender Cobaj was cut in his hand while defending his father, cops and neighbors said.

On Saturday, mourners went in and out of the home where Pompilii and his wife of 56 years raised two children and six grandchildren. A bird feeder swayed in the rain outside.

“It’s our grandpa,” one visitor told reporters in a hushed voice.

Pompilii was an “old school Italian guy” everyone on Sunnyside Terrace loved, resident Ron Romano said. He called Pompilii “the nicest neighbor on the block.”

“He would clean up the street. He was a wonderful person,” Romano said

Ramusevic has a history of mental health problems, public records show.

He was hospitalized at Richmond University Medical Center in March for a psychiatric issue and sued the hospital in June for medical records after he injured himself during an unsuccessful escape from the hospital, according to court documents.

Ramusevic — who once owned a pizzeria nearby — was always standoffish, neighbors said.

In fact, the only people he seemed to get along with were Pompilii and Redzep Cobaj, said the neighbors.

“They were always talking to each other, these three,” the neighbor said. “They were always hanging out and talking. They knew each other very well.”

Police on Saturday were still trying to determine what sparked the carnage.

“Even the detectives were like ‘We have no idea. We literally don’t know why he did it,’” said one neighbor, who identified herself as Christina. “I heard (Pompilii) was going to visit his neighbor, and they were attacked by the other neighbor.”

Possible charges against Ramusevic were pending Saturday, said police sources.