John "Junior" Gotti Stabbed

Former Mafia boss John "Junior" Gotti has been stabbed in a car park in Long Island after what he said was his attempt to break up a fight.

Gotti reportedly drove himself to a Long Island hospital with a bleeding gut on Sunday night. He had allegedly been assaulted outside a CVS store in Syosset.

Police are investigating the incident and his claim that a stranger stabbed him in the stomach after he got in the middle of a fight. The New York Post and other reports said he has declined to provide any more information to police.

Gotti, 49, was the reputed head of the Gambino crime family for much of the 1990s while his father, the late mobster John "Dapper Don" Gotti, was in prison. The elder Gotti - who had avoided conviction for a long time, earning the nickname of "Teflon Don" - died in prison in 2002.

His son said he left organised crime in 1999, when he pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that sent him to prison for six years. Since 2005, Gotti has been tried several times for racketeering. Each trial ended in a hung jury.

He says he now manages properties on Long Island.

His wounds are not life-threatening and he is said to be recovering at home.