Press Releases
DEFENDANT INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES IN BRUTAL ATTACK ON WOMAN INSIDE HOWARD BEACH SUBWAY STATION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Waheed Foster, 41, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on attempted murder and assault charges in the brutal and unprovoked attack on a woman exiting the subway at the Howard Beach/JFK Airport station. The defendant allegedly pounced on the victim and threw her to…
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR HIT-AND-RUN BOX TRUCK CRASH THAT KILLED MOTORIST IN MIDDLE VILLAGE IN 2020
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Ramon Pena, 39, was sentenced to up to 22 years in prison for causing a deadly collision with a box truck on Metropolitan Avenue at the Metro Mall exit on July 30, 2020. A 25-year-old motorist died as a result of the crash. District Attorney Katz said,…
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR SLASHING MAN AFTER HURLING HOMOPHOBIC AND RACIAL SLURS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Ramon Castro, 56, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for assault as a hate crime for a July 2021 incident near a Flushing, Queens subway station where he slashed a man in the face after using racial and homophobic slurs. District Attorney Katz said, “Hate-motivated…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING AND ROBBING TWO VICTIMS HE MET ON “GRINDR” AND “LOCANTO”
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jadu Davindra, 34, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on criminal sexual acts, robbery and other charges for allegedly forcing a stranger he met on an online dating app to engage in sexual acts before demanding money. The defendant…
62 GUNS TAKEN OFF THE STREETS AT BUYBACK EVENT CO-HOSTED BY QUEENS DA MELINDA KATZ & NYPD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and the New York City Police Department announced that 62 guns were collected today at Calvary Assembly of God Church in Ozone Park, Queens. The gun buyback comes as the city has experienced an increase in gun violence and sought to curb this devastation by accepting working unloaded firearms —…
MASPETH MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STABBING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Olmedo Osorio, 46, has been charged with murder for allegedly stabbing a 55-year-old man to death during a dispute across from a Queens bar on September 19, 2022. District Attorney Katz said, “As alleged, the defendant fatally stabbed the victim following a late-night dispute outside of a…
UNLICENSED DRIVER CHARGED WITH CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE IN DEADLY HIT AND RUN OF 5-YEAR-OLD BOY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Xavier Carchipulla, 40, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an incident and other crimes for allegedly striking a 5-year-old pedestrian with his 2018 Dodge Ram pickup truck. The defendant, whose license was suspended at the time of the incident, immediately fled the…
DEFENDANT INDICTED BY GRAND JURY FOR FIRST-DEGREE MURDER IN THE SLAYING OF GIRLFRIEND AND HER FAMILY INSIDE HER JAMAICA HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Travis Blake, 29, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes for the June 2022 murders of his girlfriend, her adult son and niece inside her Jamaica home. The defendant fled to Maine and was…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME AND OTHER CHARGES FOR DESTROYING STATUE IN FRONT OF HINDU TEMPLE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Sukhpal Singh, 27, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime for allegedly smashing a statue in front of the Tulsi Mandir Temple last month. The incident took place around 3:00 AM on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. District Attorney Katz said, “As alleged, the…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON IN VEHICULAR HOMICIDE CRASH THAT KILLED MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Tyrone Absolam, 42, has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide. The defendant caused the death of the female motorist and her daughter during a July 24, 2021 vehicle collision on Rockaway Boulevard. District Attorney Katz said, “The…
DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACK IN FAR ROCKAWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that James Purcell, aka James Porcell, 34, has been charged with assault as a hate crime for allegedly attacking a Jewish man in Far Rockaway on Tuesday. District Attorney Katz said, “This defendant is accused of assaulting an individual of the Jewish faith while making anti-Semitic statements. We…
SECOND INDICTMENT OF COUPLE ON SEX TRAFFICKING AND PROMOTING PROSTITUTION CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that defendants Destiny Lebron, 19 and Gil Iphael, 22, have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on sex trafficking and other charges in the July 2022 incident that took place inside the Quality Inn hotel in Jamaica, Queens. District Attorney Katz…
DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY IN VISA SCAM; OVER $90,000 IN RESTITUTION SECURED FOR VICTIMS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Police Department Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell and Special Agent-in-Charge of the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service New York Field Office Keith J. Byrne, announced today that Olimzhon Turdialiev, 39, pleaded guilty to criminal possession of stolen property and subsequently made restitution of $92,000 to…
DEFENDANT AWAITING TRIAL ON ASSAULT CHARGES INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY HIRING HITMAN TO KILL MAIN WITNESS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Police Department Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, announced today that Mark Douglas, 44, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on charges of second-degree conspiracy to commit murder and other charges for allegedly hiring a hitman to kill the…
ACCUSED DRUG DEALER INDICTED FOR SELLING DEADLY NARCOTICS AND LOADED FIREARM IN QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, announced today that Justin Echeverry, 19, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, and other crimes. The defendant is…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR MANSLAUGHTER IN STABBING DEATH OF HIS WIFE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Manuel Villar, 52, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the fatal stabbing of his 43-year-old wife. The 2020 incident took place inside their Arverne home. District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant, who pleaded guilty, is responsible for a brutal…
FAR ROCKAWAY WOMAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN FATAL SIDEWALK HIT AND RUN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Kiani Phoenix, 26, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on murder and other charges for allegedly fatally striking a 59-year-old man with her vehicle as she drove onto the sidewalk outside of a deli convenience store on August 27th in Far Rockaway. The defendant…
WOMAN INDICTED FOR STASH OF ILLEGAL WEAPONS FOUND IN HER BRIARWOOD HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dorothy Hirsch, 62, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on criminal possession of a weapon and other charges after eight illegal weapons, six of them semi-automatic, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition were allegedly found inside her apartment on 84th Road in…
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULTING POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS STRUCK IN EYE WITH CROWBAR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Andres Tabares, 40, has pleaded guilty to assault in the first degree for striking a police officer with a crowbar causing severe physical injuries. Police officers were pursuing two defendants who were attempting to burglarize a home on April 16, 2019, in Kew Gardens, Queens when the…
WOMAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SIDEWALK HIT AND RUN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Kiani Phoenix, 26, has been charged with murder and other crimes for allegedly driving her car onto the sidewalk and fatally striking a 59-year-old man and another pedestrian outside a Far Rockaway deli convenience store on August 27. The defendant allegedly intended to strike a woman with…