The homeless man who pummeled 1010 WINS radio news anchor Brian Carey in his Upper East Side apartment over a bungled pizza order copped a plea to assault Monday in exchange for five years in prison.
Elton Anthony, 49, admitted in Manhattan Supreme Court that after the bizarre Sept. 9 pizza quarrel between the two – sparked by the delivery of a pie made with extra mozzarella that wasn’t prepared properly — he left Carey unconscious in a pool of blood.
“Did you hit the person?” asked Justice Laura Ward.
“We fought. Yes,” Anthony answered.
As part of the plea deal, Anthony also has to serve five years post-release supervision and abide by an order of protection barring any contact with Carey. He faced up to seven years in prison if convicted at trial.
Anthony told cops after his arrest that Carey hired him to do odd jobs around his East 61st Street apartment a few years back and that the housework soon blossomed into friendship.
But the relationship overheated after a pizza joint failed to properly prepare a pizza for the two, prosecutors said.
Carey wanted additional mozzarella added after the pizza emerged from the oven – but staffers tossed on the cheese beforehand.
Wanting to please his friend, an irate Anthony demanded a correction and even put the restaurant manager on the phone with the mortified newsman.
“[Carey] wanted to know why I had made such a big deal about the pizza cheese, and I got mad because [Carey] cared more about me embarrassing him than getting the order right,” Anthony told cops after his arrest.
Bubbling over with anger, Anthony eventually flung the pie to the floor and turned to leave when Carey grabbed him by the shirt and demanded that he stay, Anthony told cops.
Anthony stayed – but only to pummel the popular radio anchor to a pulp. He broke Carey’s jaw in two places and fractured his eye socket.
Anthony was convicted of assault in 2000 and served a stint in prison. He’s being held in lieu of $25,000 bail pending his sentencing.