Granville Adams, an actor who appeared in the HBO prison drama “Oz,” was arrested in connection with the death of a man who fell down an elevator shaft during a scuffle at a Manhattan nightclub, police said Sunday.
Adams, 43, of Brooklyn, was arrested Saturday and charged with criminally negligent homicide, police said.
Adams played the character Zahir Arif in more than 20 episodes of the critically acclaimed HBO prison show “Oz,” which ran from 1997 to 2003. He had been working as a manager at the upscale nightclub BED.
Police called to the nightclub in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood early Saturday found 35-year-old Orlando Valle, who had fallen in an elevator shaft. He died at the hospital.
Local media said Valle struggled with Adams after a friend of Valle’s and the club’s coat checker argued. Valle fell against a set of elevator doors that gave way, and he plunged several stories, landing atop an elevator in the shaft, according to the media reports.
Adams also portrayed a police officer in 11 episodes of NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street,” and had a small part in the film “Empire,” starring John Leguizamo and Peter Sarsgaard.
The nightclub BED, which features beds among the decor, was once featured in an episode of the hit show “Sex and the City.”