June 1, 1998

ROCKAWAY PARK MAN CONVICTED OF ROBBERY OF FAR ROCKAWAY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a Rockaway Park man has been convicted of robbing a high school student on his way home from school.

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Donnell Wimms, 28, of 411 Beach 69th Street, Rockaway Park. He was found guilty of robbery in the second degree after a two week trial before Supreme Court Justice Hark H. Spires. He will be sentenced on June 25th and faces up to 15 years in prison.

According to trial testimony, the victim, 18, was walking home from school when he passed two men acting suspiciously. One man signaled to the other and the second man took off on a bicycle into a nearby park. The victim also went into the park, unaware that the first man was following him on a bike. The man caught up with the victim and attempted to rob him of a gold medallion and gold chain. The victim tried to fight back when the second man rode up from the other side of the park and also beat the victim. He was thrown to the ground and sustained head and other injuries. The two fled on their bicycles with the medallion and chain. The victim flagged down a police car about a block away. He and the police officers rode around looking for the two men but were unable to find them. The victim later identified his assailants after looking through mug shot books. The second man, the defendant's brother, Rasha Wimms was also arrested. He has pleaded guilty and is currently serving a 2-1/4 to 4-1/2 year sentence.

Assistant District Attorney Patrick T. O'Malley of the District Attorney's Long Island City Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Barbara Bernstein and Deputy Bureau Chief Anselmo A. Alegria, prosecuted the case.