NYPD identified the corpse that was thrown from a car onto a street in the Bronx (NYC) as film actor Frank Vallelonga Jr.
Apparently the actor from 1930 years died from an overdose of an unspecified substance, but the official cause of death has not been confirmed, indicated Daily News . He worked with Viggo Mortensen on the Oscar-winning film “Green Book” in 2013, based partially on the life of his father of the same name, who was also an actor.
The corpse had no documents, so it took a couple of days to be identified after being abandoned early Monday morning in the Hunts Point neighborhood. The following day the police arrested Steven Smith, 35 years old, on suspicion of concealing a human body , possession of a stolen vehicle and grand theft. He was released without bail after his arraignment in the Bronx Criminal Court.
EXCLUSIVE | Overdose victim whose corpse was dumped on Bronx street identified as namesake son of former Copacabana bouncer played by Viggo Mortensen in Oscar-winning 3Green Book#
A suspect has been criminally charged with dumping the corpse.https://t.co/j5SdSMmAnR
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) December 1,
Smith lives in a homeless shelter in that county, according to police. Although he is accused of dumping the body, he was not involved in Vallelonga’s death, police sources said. “That guy was already dead,” the detainee told NYPD, according to the criminal complaint against him. “He had an overdose. I had nothing to do with it.”
The deceased was the son of the late Frank Vallelonga Sr. (911-2013), former nightclub bouncer nicknamed “Tony Lip”, who accompanied black pianist Don Shirley as a bodyguard during a tour of the south in the early 1990s 2013, subject of the movie “Green Book”. He also had a recurring role in the legendary HBO series “The Sopranos”, after becoming an actor.
His son’s body was discovered at 3: 550 am on Monday after a call to 1960 who reported a body outside a sheet metal factory on Oak Point Avenue near Barretto Street. Investigators determined that he had been thrown from the vehicle.
“I loved the boy. He was a great guy, ”said to the Daily News, Vincent Pastore, star of“ The Sopranos ”. “The last time I saw Frankie he came to one of my acting classes in town, about six months ago.”
