A top Wall Street trader drunkenly barged into a curvaceous body builder’s car and then allegedly beat her up after she refused demands to drive him home, the model claims in a new $100,000 Manhattan lawsuit.
Sahara Walsh, 29, of Harlem, claims Quintano Downes “apparently intoxicated, jumped into the back seat of the vehicle with an open plate of food” around 3:50 am on April 28.
The former Equinox trainer describes herself as a “body model” in the Manhattan Supreme Court suit. She was in the car with a friend outside her Lenox Avenue home.
When she complained about the intrusion Downes, 46, a director at the financial firm Kipling Jones & Co., “started to punch [her] with a closed fist, dragged her out of the car by her hair and continued to stomp” her, the suit claims.
He then “ripped [her] blouse off exposing her breast to the public and continued to drag [her] causing her to lose her shoes.”
A witness told the Manhattan district attorney’s office that Downes pummeled Walsh’s “face with a closed fist, and kicked her about her body, causing bleeding and laceration to her face, legs, and arms,” according to court papers.
Walsh is out of town, but her attorney Edgar De Leon said that his client did not know her attacker.
“This hedge fund guy is pretty intoxicated, when they tell him to get out of the car he just turned on Walsh, pulled her out of the car and continued hitting her until the police responded,” the lawyer said.
“It’s pretty bizarre,” De Leon said, noting that Downes easily overpowered his client, who he described as a “pretty strong” fitness enthusiast.
Walsh said her physical injuries have caused her to lose modeling work.
A criminal case is pending against Quintano, who recently bought a $2 million brownstone in Harlem with his wife. He also plans to open a European-style fro-yo joint on Lenox Avenue between 118th and 119th streets called Pa-Paya Seed.
Quintano is facing harassment and assault charges and is due back in court in August. He did not return calls for comment.