Archive for December 2023
Your Weekly Update – December 29, 2023
My number one priority is keeping you and your loved ones safe. Through the hard work and collaboration between police and prosecutors, this year we have seen shootings decline 24 percent in the city and 33 percent in Queens compared to 2022. Murders are down 11 percent in the city and 39 percent in Queens. There is always more to be done,…
Read MoreBROOKLYN TEEN CHARGED WITH GUN POSSESSION IN DOG SNATCHING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a 16-year-old was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, petit larceny and other crimes in the gunpoint theft of a French bulldog on Christmas day in Long Island City. District Attorney Katz said: “Pulling a gun in broad daylight to steal a dog and then casually taking…
Read MoreCON MEN, CORPORATION PLEAD GUILTY IN DEED FRAUD SCHEME TO STEAL HOUSES IN QUEENS, NASSAU
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Russell Carbone and Terrell Hill pleaded guilty to a wide-ranging scheme to steal residential properties by filing forged deeds with city officials. As part of the plea, the court voided deeds to seven homes in Queens and two in Nassau County so they could be returned to their…
Read MoreLONG ISLAND DRIVER INDICTED ON AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE CHARGE IN FATAL LIE CRASH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a grand jury indicted Reginald Nash on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault and driving under the influence, among numerous other charges, in connection with a high-speed, three-car collision last month on the Long Island Expressway that left one of his passengers dead and two others…
Read MoreASTORIA MAN INDICTED FOR DEADLY STAIRWELL SHOVE OF NEIGHBOR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kevin Ogara was indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for allegedly pushing his 60-year-old neighbor down a stairwell in their Astoria apartment building causing fatal injuries. District Attorney Katz said: “We will argue that the victim was walking away from the…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – December 22, 2023
My office secured a 140-count indictment against a Queens man for submitting falsified absentee ballot applications for the Democratic primary election in August 2022… (continued)
Read MoreMAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME FOR DEFACING APARTMENT BUILDING WITH SLURS AND THREATS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Neal Milano was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with defacing the Sunnyside apartment building where he lives with threats, including “Kill Hamas Condo Board,” and homophobic and anti-female slurs. District Attorney Katz said: “Hateful and bias-motivated attacks have no place in our communities and this shameful…
Read MoreQUEENS CON MAN SENTENCED FOR STEALING $40,000 FROM VICTIMS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shahab Khan was sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for stealing more than $40,000 through apartment rental and investment scams. District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant victimized people in his own community. These were hard-working people looking for a place to call home or trying to…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN INDICTED IN VOTER FRAUD CASE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Abdul Rahman was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with falsifying business records, criminal possession of a forged instrument and other crimes for submitting falsified absentee ballot applications for the Democratic primary election in August 2022. District Attorney Katz said: “Every vote has to count. Election integrity…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – December 15, 2023
I announced the takedown of a sprawling drug trafficking organization this week that reached from Jamaica to suburban Suffolk and Westchester Counties and involved several members of the same family… (continued)
Read MoreTWO MEN INDICTED FOR MURDERING MOTORIST WITH HIS OWN VEHICLE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Aaron Mayers and Zahir Williams were indicted in connection with the murder of a Brooklyn man who was pummeled unconscious before being run over with his own car. According to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, 50-year-old Francisco Ortega survived a brutal beating by the defendants and two…
Read MoreFAMILIAL DRUG TRAFFICKING RING DISMANTLED
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that 11 defendants were arraigned on drug and gun charges following a 15-month investigation into a sprawling drug trafficking organization that reached from Jamaica to suburban Suffolk and Westchester Counties and involved several members of the same family. The investigation included a series of undercover drug buys inside a…
Read MoreMAN INDICTED IN MURDER OF LANDLADY AFTER RENT DISPUTE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Davi Vidal was indicted for the murder of his landlord, whom he is accused of strangling in her East Elmhurst home after the two argued about rent. District Attorney Katz said: “We will seek justice for the brutally murdered victim and her loved ones. The defendant will have…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – December 8, 2023
My office brought charges against an unlicensed teenage driver and his parents this week in connection with a gruesome auto collision that killed a 14-year-old passenger in Jamaica… (continued)
Read MoreMOTORIST CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER IN DEATH OF 3-YEAR-OLD RUN OVER IN QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kevin Gomez was charged in an indictment today with manslaughter in the death of a 3-year-old boy run over in Flushing. Gomez is accused of hitting the child with his car and dragging him approximately 10 feet before driving away. District Attorney Katz said: “There are few threats…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH RAPE, ASSAULT, ROBBERY IN CRIME SPREE TARGETING SPAS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shahab Usman was charged with rape, assault and robbery for a crime spree targeting spas in South Richmond Hill that left a patron paralyzed from a gunshot. District Attorney Katz said: “We will be prosecuting the man we believe to be the violent predator responsible for a string…
Read MoreTENANT CHARGED FOR SHOOTING BUILDING SUPERINTENDENT, FIRING AT RESPONDING POLICE OFFICERS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that William Hernandez was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with attempted murder, kidnapping and assault for allegedly getting into a shootout with police officers after holding his building superintendent at gunpoint and then shooting him. District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant is charged with attempted murder in…
Read MoreTEEN DRIVER AND PARENTS CHARGED IN GRUESOME COLLISION THAT KILLED 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a teenage driver and his parents have been charged in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl who was a passenger in a car sheared in half after crashing at more than 100 miles an hour into a parked UPS truck on a busy Queens thoroughfare. The…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – December 1, 2023
My office secured a significant prison term this week for a Long Island man sentenced to 25 years to life for the October 2020 murder of his pregnant girlfriend, 29-year-old Vanessa Pierre… (continued)
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