FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (PIX11) — The man who got into a fight with a Brooklyn building super—who later died of a possible heart attack—has been released from police custody, according to law enforcement sources.
The 31-year-old man won’t be charged after the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office determined there was no criminality related to the fight between the man and 41-year-old super, Burim Havolli, sources told PIX11 News on Friday.
The super died from a medical episode hours after he and the man got into a fight over stolen packages in the building, located on Ocean Avenue in Flatbush at around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to police and sources.
Havolli thought the man was swiping packages after residents complained to him about the rampant thefts. The super confronted him, and the two argued before it turned physical, sources said. Neighbors said Havolli was hit on the head with a cellphone while trying to hold the man until cops arrived at the scene.
“He started to repeatedly hit Burim in the head with the iPhone,” said building resident Sarah Abraham. “There was blood everywhere.”
Police officers showed up around 8:45 a.m., and the super had refused to go into an ambulance, according to a neighbor, who said she later heard the super’s wife screaming around 10:30 a.m.
The neighbor told PIX11 News that Havolli was found face-down in the couple’s bathroom, and he was rushed to the hospital at around 11 a.m.
Sources said Havolli may have suffered a heart attack and died at the hospital. The medical examiner’s report was pending.
“We really lost a good person for no reason,” Abraham said.
The super had a wife and three children. He will be buried in his native Kosovo, the victim’s brother told PIX11 News.
“He was my second brother,” said Blerim Havolli.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.