Local News
Man accused of assault after he loses card game
SALEM — Talk about being down.
A Federal Street man who'd just lost $1,900 in a poker game — a bet he insists was a joke — was arrested early yesterday after police say he went for a knife in hopes of preventing a fellow player from leaving with the cash.
Nicholas A. Konstadt, 23, of 178 Federal St., Salem, pleaded not guilty several hours later at Salem District Court to a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. He was released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the alleged victim.
Konstadt, meanwhile, is seeking to press charges against that other player, alleging that the man not only tried to steal his money but that he grabbed Konstadt around the neck.
Police were called to Konstadt's home, where he lives with his parents, just before 5 a.m. There they found Konstadt being held by two men, as Konstadt had his hand on a knife that was in a knife block on the kitchen counter, police said.
Konstadt and three men had spent the night drinking and then went back to his home to play cards, according to Patrolman Brian Butler's report.
"We were all out drinking," Konstadt said yesterday. "We play late-night card games all the time."
"We were definitely talking smack to each other," he acknowledged. "Everyone was definitely under the influence."
The players were using coins instead of chips, he said. At some point, he said, he "jokingly" took the proceeds of his just-cashed paycheck, representing two weeks of work as a waiter, and put it on the table.
Then the other player "won a big hand," Konstadt said.
They had played for money in the past, Konstadt said, but "never anything close to that range," so, he said, he assumed they knew he was kidding.
Things got "kind of cloudy" after that, he said. One of the other players picked up the money.
When Konstadt realized he was about to lose the $1,900 he'd wagered, he tried to block the men from leaving with the cash, which was being held by one of the men, police said. Konstadt allegedly pushed one of the men to a corner of the kitchen and then reached for a knife.
Konstadt said the player he'd just lost to had him by the neck at one point.
"I was like, give me my money and get out of my house," Konstadt said yesterday. He said he would have called police himself but was afraid to let his hand off the knife handle.
One of the other men, who had the money, handed Butler $2,800, including Konstadt's $1,900 and $900 from the other player.
The officers arrested Konstadt and then went to wake up his parents, who had slept through the commotion in another part of the house.
He says he still can't believe he's the one who got arrested.
It's been a tough couple of months for Konstadt. Last month, a rabid woodchuck ventured into his backyard and was killed by his dog, exposing both him and his father to the virus. They wound up receiving a series of preventive shots.
Konstadt is due back in court Aug. 31.
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