A Queens jeweler to the stars was killed by a hit-and-run driver after the two got into a fight Sunday night in Forest Hills, police said.
Aron Aranbayev and the driver got into a verbal dispute after 11 p.m. on 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, and the driver hit Aranbayev with a dark Dodge Magnum and took off, the NYPD said.
Aranbayev was taken to Jamaica Hospital with severe head trauma. He died at the hospital on Monday.
Police said the 40-year-old father of four and the driver may have been arguing over a parking spot.
"He was being dropped off, and some guy was in a rush," Aranbayev's cousin, Israel Aranbuyov, said outside his funeral at the Jewish community center in Forest Hills Tuesday. "They got into a verbal argument and the guy ran into him."
Co-workers and friends said Aranbayev was a pillar in the community and a family man, with his youngest child just 6 months old. Known as Eric to his friends, Aranbayev was considered a jeweler to the stars, accessorizing celebrities like Sean "Diddy" Combs, Khloe Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather.
Daryl Dunn works next door to Aranbayev's jewelry store, Rafaello and Company, on 47th Street in the diamond district of midtown Manhattan.
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"We're keeping the family in prayer and just looking forward to a better day," he said outside the funeral.
Neighbor Alexander Balanevsky said Aranbayev was always polite.
"Always he say 'good morning' to me," he said.
Cousin Israel Aranbuyov said, "Hopefully they will find this guy, get him off the streets so he won't do this to anybody else."
