A rich Hofstra University frat boy gathered a gang of four “goons” to pummel and pistol-whip a fraternity brother he thought was sleeping with his ex, cops said.
After the merciless thrashing, the bleeding and battered victim was then dumped on a crime-ridden Hempstead, LI, block in only his boxer shorts, cops said.
“This is payback,” Adam Schelberg, 22, allegedly said during the brutal beat-down.
The beefy Kings Point native and the victim, whose name is being withheld, both belong to the college’s Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, which has more than 80 chapters nationwide.
Schelberg set a trap for the 21-year-old victim on April 2, when he convinced him to go for a ride in his Range Rover, cops said.
The pair had once been pals, but had a falling out over the woman, a student told the Post.
It all came to a head that night, when, unbeknownst to the victim, Schelberg had already arranged to have “four of his goons” meet them, said Nassau County Detective Lt. Raymond Cote.
“Are you messing around with my girl?” cops said Schelberg asked just before the attack.
“No, it’s not what you think. We’re just friends,” the victim allegedly replied.
But Schelberg – whose father is a partner at the powerhouse Manhattan law firm Proskauer Rose – didn’t believe him, cops said.
“They beat the heck out of this poor kid, punching him and pistol-whipping him,” said Cote.
A good Samaritan let the half-naked and bleeding victim use his cellphone.
He was taken to the hospital and received five stitches to close the gash on his head from the pistol-whipping, cops said.
Schelberg was arrested on Wednesday, along with one of his alleged enforcers, high-school friend Danny Henderson.
Police are still searching for the three others who helped beat the victim.
Schelberg and Henderson, of Roslyn Heights, were both arraigned yesterday on charges that included kidnapping, robbery, assault and criminal use of a firearm.
Schelberg’s lawyer, Salvatore Marinello, told the court that his client has no criminal history, and shifted blame onto the victim by telling the judge that he had a felony drug case pending.
Nassau County Judge Norman Janowitz released Schelberg on $250,000 bond or $125,000 bail, which he posted within 90 minutes. Henderson did not make bail.
The victim’s mother said she is frightened.
“I am so upset and scared,” she said outside her home yesterday. “I just want to keep my son safe. Wouldn’t you?”