Joe Avianne [Yosef Aranbayev] of the Avianne & Co jewelry shop has sold jewelry to the likes of Blueface, Kodak Black, Travis Scott, Lil Pump Future, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, and Migos.
Now he's facing charges of attempted assault in the first degree as a hate crime, attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime, reckless endangerment in the first degree as a hate crime, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, reckless driving, and avoiding intersection or traffic control device.
On Saturday, police pulled over a Chevy Tahoe speeding down the wrong way of a Queens, NY road. The two men in the car, who were black, said they were being chased and shot at by a Dodge Durango.
Police then pulled over the Durango, which Avianne was driving.
"Those guys were in my neighborhood," he is said to have told officers at the time. "I'm sorry, officer. I didn't do anything wrong. They were scouting my whole neighborhood the whole day … I was chasing those guys. We're chasing them out of our neighborhood."
Joe's attorney Gregory Bitterman argues the hate crime was added to the charges against his client just to get in the papers, and that the incident had "had nothing to do with racism or hate."
Avianne did have some reason to be jittery. Last year, thieves busted into his shop and hogtied his employees, getting away with $4 million in bling.
Adam Sandler's Howard Ratner character in Uncut Gems is somewhat based on Avianne.