Brooklyn bodega owner Salah Ahmed found guilty of attacking teen with hammer

BY Scott Shifrel AND Dave Goldiner DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
A Brooklyn bodega owner was found guilty Wednesday of attacking a teen with a hammer in a wild fracas inside the East New York corner store.
Salah Ahmed, 36, faces up to 25 years behind bars for pounding Bunkless Bovian, 16, unconscious in a fight with another store clerk on April 14, 2008.
Ahmed, who prayed to himself moments before the jury read its verdict, looked stunned as he was taken into custody.
"We're obviously disappointed," defense lawyer David Epstein said.
"The verdict was against the weight of the evidence."
The panel of eight men and four women took just five hours to convict Ahmed of first-degree assault, which carries a minimum penalty of five years in prison.
A videotape of the fight showed Bovian and a pal fighting with a clerk, whom they accused of insulting them.
The argument woke up Ahmed, who was napping in a back room. He came out and whacked Bovian once in the head with a hammer.
The teen was placed in a medically-induced coma, but has mostly recovered.
He testified that his speech is still slurred, he suffers from headaches and he is no longer a star basketball player.
Ahmed was ordered held without bail until a May 28 sentencing.
The conviction was the latest stunning setback for Ahmed.
He confidently believed he would be cleared in the case because the video showed he was coming to the aid of the clerk.

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