Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Shaleek Brunson was indicted on charges of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for wielding a hammer and chasing a woman onto the grounds of the Jewish Institute of Queens in Rego Park. While there, Brunson ran into the school yard where children were playing and pushed an 8-year-old boy into a fence and later bit an employee inside the school.

District Attorney Katz said “As alleged, this defendant caused chaos at a summer camp when he chased a woman onto school grounds and ran into a yard where children were playing while wielding a hammer. He then shoved an 8-year-old into a metal gate causing a large cut to the boy’s head. Instead of leaving the property, the defendant entered a school building where he was restrained by staffers and bit one of them in the process. A grand jury has now indicted him for assault and other crimes, and the defendant faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted. We wish the victims well as they continue to recover.”

Brunson, 42, of Brooklyn, was arraigned yesterday on an 11-count indictment charging him with five counts of assault in the second degree, one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, two counts of assault in the third degree, menacing in the second degree, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal trespass in the third degree. Supreme Court Justice Germaine Auguste ordered him to return to court on October 7. If convicted, Brunson faces up to 14 years in prison.

DA Katz said that, according to the charges, at approximately 11 a.m. on July 28, Brunson approached a woman who was walking with two other people near the Queens Center Mall on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst and chased them while wielding a hammer. At the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway, the woman ran across Woodhaven Boulevard in traffic to try to escape from Brunson.

The defendant continued to chase the woman who sought refuge in a fenced-in area of the Jewish Institute on Woodhaven Boulevard. He followed her onto the school property and pulled on the locked front doors of the building.

Brunson then went to the school yard where numerous children were playing while still holding the hammer. A camp counselor attempted to get Brunson to leave and was assisted by a good Samaritan who had witnessed the chase. The camp counselor removed the hammer from Brunson’s hand.

Brunson ran toward the metal gate of the school yard as he pushed children out of the way. When he got to the gate, he pushed an 8-year-old boy who was standing there into the metal gate causing the child’s head to strike it. The boy sustained a large laceration to his forehead. Brunson then ran into the school where several staffers restrained him. He bit one of them on the hand.

The boy was taken to a local hospital where he received six stiches to his head. The employee was also treated at a hospital for sustained redness and substantial pain from the bite to his hand.

Police recovered the hammer from the scene of the incident.

The investigation was conducted by members of the 112^th Precinct.

Assistant District Attorney Danielle Catinella of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael Whitney, Bureau Chief, Timothy Regan, Deputy Chief, and under the overall supervision of Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Clark.