Archive for September 2023
Your Weekly Update – September 29, 2023
I joined Governor Kathy Hochul this week for the signing of a legislative package to extend protections against human trafficking in our city and state. This heinous crime remains one of the most underreported and Queens is especially vulnerable as the home to two major airports and a large immigrant population… (continued)
Read MoreBOYFRIEND OF WOMAN KILLED AND HIDDEN IN CAR TRUNK SENTENCED
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kareem Flake was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for killing Destini Smothers, the 26-year-old mother of his two children, in November 2020. The victim’s remains were discovered four months later in the trunk of an abandoned car belonging to Flake. District Attorney Katz said: “The depravity…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – September 22, 2023
My office charged an unlicensed acupuncturist this week with assault, reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession… (continued)
Read MoreFIVE PEOPLE CHARGED AFTER SEARCH WARRANT TURNS UP DRUGS AND WEAPONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that five people have been arraigned on drugs and weapons charges after a search warrant executed at their Queens Village home uncovered four firearms, including an assault rifle, and more than 4 kilograms of fentanyl-laced cocaine and heroin with a street value of more than $200,000. A 10-year-old boy…
Read MoreMAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SLAMMING A 6-YEAR-OLD BOY ONTO PAVEMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Laurence Gendreau was convicted of attempted murder, assault and other crimes for picking up a 6-year-old boy and slamming him into the pavement head first. The random assault took place outside the Kew Gardens home of the boy’s grandparents. Just two hours earlier, Gendreau stole an iPad from…
Read MoreMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING IN SOUTH RICHMOND HILL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shawn Singh was arraigned today on murder and weapon possession charges for a shooting that killed 31-year-old Treva Sookmangal in South Richmond Hill on September 2. District Attorney Katz said: “Altercations escalating to gun violence cannot become the norm. We will not allow it in this borough. Those…
Read MoreBROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED FOR STALKING WOMAN AND SETTING HER FOREST HILLS APARTMENT ON FIRE AFTER SHE ENDED RELATIONSHIP
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Steven Somerville was sentenced to 27 to 29 years in prison for repeatedly stalking and threatening a woman who broke off their relationship and then setting her apartment on fire. The woman was not home at the time of the blaze, having fled with her three children to…
Read MoreUNLICENSED ACUPUNCTURIST CHARGED WITH CAUSING PATIENT’S LUNGS TO COLLAPSE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Yong De Lin was arraigned today, accused of administering acupuncture treatments he was not licensed to perform that caused a woman’s lungs to collapse. District Attorney Katz urges anyone who has received acupuncture treatments from Lin, who worked from a medical office in Flushing, to contact her office’s…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – September 15, 2023
Deed theft isn’t new, but it’s happening far too often with serious repercussions for those impacted… (continued)
Read MoreQUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN STABBING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rahlik Pinnock was arraigned today for attempted murder after allegedly trying to solicit a woman to engage in prostitution and then stabbing her boyfriend, who had confronted him. District Attorney Katz said: “We have seen verbal disputes all too often escalate to brutal violence, in this case resulting…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – September 8, 2023
After clearly identifying himself as a police officer, an off-duty cop was attacked recently while trying to make an arrest. The charges against the assailants — first degree assault and strangulation — reflect the seriousness of the aggression against him… (continued)
Read MoreMAN SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS FOR STABBING OVER PARKING SPOT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Anthony Thomas was sentenced today to seven years in prison for stabbing a man in a dispute over a parking spot. The victim parked his car in front of Thomas’ home in Laurelton after moving traffic cones Thomas had set up to reserve the space. After a friend…
Read MoreHUSBAND ADMITS MOWING DOWN WIFE WITH SUV, STABBING HER; PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Stephen Giraldo pleaded guilty today to attempted murder for slamming into his wife with his SUV and then stabbing her in the presence of the couple’s three children, who witnessed the assault as passengers in their father’s car. Their mother survived, but has not regained consciousness since the…
Read MoreBROTHERS CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING OFF-DUTY OFFICER AND ATTEMPTING TO WREST FIREARM FROM HIM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shawn Rivera and Edwin Rivera were arraigned today on charges of first-degree assault and strangulation in an attack on an off-duty police officer after a traffic dispute near Queens Boulevard and 70th Street in Elmhurst. District Attorney Katz said: “We will not allow our streets to devolve into…
Read MoreLONG ISLAND MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING DEATH OUTSIDE ST. ALBANS NIGHTCLUB
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Christopher King was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with murder in connection with the April shooting death of 23-year-old Jevaughn Jeminson outside the Pure Lounge nightclub in St. Albans. District Attorney Katz said: “More senseless gun violence, more tragedy, another young life cut short. It is…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – September 1, 2023
New York’s Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO), or “Red Flag” law, prevents individuals who show signs of being a threat to themselves or others from legally purchasing or possessing a firearm… (continued)
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