WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2005

D.A. BROWN: BRONX MAN INDICTED IN CARJACKING AND ASSAULT OF QUEENS TEACHER AND NURSE
Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Bronx man who went on a robbery and carjacking spree last month in Jamaica, Queens, has been indicted on assault, robbery and other charges. During the spree, the defendant is alleged to have stabbed and stolen the car of a public school teacher and then assaulted and attempted to steal the car of a hospital nurse.

District Attorney Brown said, “As alleged in the indictment, the defendant attacked a New York City school teacher during a robbery, repeatedly stabbing her about the leg and abdomen and continuing to do so even after the victim was lying helpless on the ground. In a second incident that occurred less than an hour later, the defendant is alleged to have attempted to steal a hospital nurse’s car after punching her in the face while she was behind the wheel. Fortunately, thanks to the quick-thinking of a nearby court officer, the defendant was apprehended before he could do further harm.”

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Frank Cabrera, 32, of 2141 Valentine Avenue in the Bronx. The defendant has been charged in a 14-count indictment filed yesterday in Queens Supreme Court with Robbery in the First and Second Degrees, Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree, Assault in the First and Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

The District Attorney said that according to the charges at approximately 9:56 a.m. on November 16, 2005, the defendant approached New York City school teacher Jill Brogan, 40, while she was standing next to her red 1998 Dodge Durango which was parked at 87-41 Parsons Boulevard – the location of P.S. 86 where she is employed as a teacher. The defendant allegedly displayed a kitchen knife and demanded money. The victim told the defendant that she did not have any money and that he could take her car, at which time the defendant allegedly stabbed her twice in the right leg and once in the lower abdomen. The defendant then allegedly threw the victim to the ground and fled in her vehicle.

Further, at 10:50 a.m. and in the vicinity of 88-25 148th Street, behind the Jamaica, Queens, Supreme Court, the defendant approached nurse Patrice Klein, 49, while she was sitting in her car, punched her in the face, and demanded her car keys and pocketbook. The defendant was apprehended by a court officer who witnessed the assault and who, together with other court officers, held him until police arrived.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Patricia M. Theodorou and Andrea M. Eckhardt of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney James W. Evangelou, Bureau Chief, and Brad A. Leventhal, Deputy Chief, under the overall supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials James C. Quinn and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorneys for Trials John H. Larsen and Robert J. Masters.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.