Elliott Osher, co-owner of the Scores strip clubs in Manhattan, is facing criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a former employee with a knife.
The 45-year-old Osher and Bakir Balaban were in a loud argument outside the club on West 27th Street and 10th Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning when the incident took place, the New York Post reported this morning.
Police said Osher and two other men chased down Balaban across a street as he ran up to a taxicab. Osher’s associates allegedly held down Balaban while Osher stabbed and slashed him with a knife.
The 39-year-old Balaban later staggered to his feet then collapsed near the Marquee nightclub along 10th Avenue. He suffered a stab wound to his back, which punctured a lung and also suffered slashes to his shoulder and left forearm.
Balaban’s friends took him to St. Vincent’s Hospital where he was treated and released late Thursday.
A former Marine, Osher joined Scores in 1999 and has been its co-owner since 2002.
Osher, who would not comment, was released on $15,000 bail after his arraignment Thursday night. He, along with his brother and scores co-owners Harvey Osher and Richard Goldring, are facing federal tax evasion charges for allegedly skimming $3.1 million their two Manhattan strip clubs.
The men have denied any wrongdoing in that case.
