Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dauri Batita has been charged with attempted robbery, assault and other crimes for ramming into a carload of women with his cargo van, striking another vehicle and assaulting four men, two of whom he attempted to rob. Batita was wearing a blue vest bearing the Amazon logo and driving a van filled with Amazon packages.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said: “As alleged, this defendant went on a violent rampage by ramming his delivery van into multiple vehicles and assaulting four people, three of whom are seniors. This defendant’s actions turned a peaceful neighborhood near Forest Park into a crime scene that spanned multiple city blocks. I thank our NYPD partners for quickly apprehending the defendant before he could cause more harm.”

Batita, 32, of Brooklyn, who is also known as Dauri Batista, was arraigned today on a criminal complaint charging him with three counts of attempted robbery in the second degree, nine counts of assault in the second degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, three counts of attempted assault in the second degree, criminal mischief in the third degree, four counts of menacing in the second degree, and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting personal injury and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting property damage. Queens Criminal Court Judge Thomas Wright-Fernandez remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to court on May 19. He faces up to seven years in prison, if convicted.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the charges, on April 26, at approximately 4:08 p.m. Batita approached a 2015 Nissan at the intersection of Park Lane South and Forest Parkway outside Forest Park in Woodhaven. As the 61-year-old driver and her three passengers looked on, the defendant, wearing a blue delivery vest, hit the vehicle’s windshield with an unknown object and cracked the glass.

The four women in the car waited near the intersection of Forest Parkway and 85^th Avenue for police to arrive. Batita entered a 2024 white Ram van and drove head on into the Nissan. Batita backed up and drove into the front of the Nissan again. Batita backed up again and the Nissan drove off. Batita followed the Nissan at a high rate of speed. Three of the women in the car experienced substantial neck, back and knee pain.

Shortly thereafter, Batita was driving near the intersection of 87^th Street and 85^th Road in Woodhaven and was allegedly going the wrong way on a one-way street. The defendant exited the Ram and approached a 66-year-old man and punched him several times, loosening his teeth and causing bleeding and pain. The victim was taken to a hospital for treatment.

At the same intersection, Batita allegedly attacked a second victim, a 33-year-old man whom he approached then punched in the face several times while he pulled at his necklace.

Batita then attacked a 72-year-old male bystander and allegedly punched him in the head, causing the victim to fall to the ground and sustain abrasions to his arm.

The defendant then entered the Ram and drove the wrong way on a one-way street and into the front end of a 2023 Nissan. The defendant then allegedly opened the front passenger door and assaulted the 75-year-old driver, punching him in the face and threatening to steal his car. The victim’s son stopped the assault and held Batita at the location until police arrived. The driver was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The investigation was conducted by Police Officer Staci Autz of the 102^nd Precinct.

Assistant District Attorney Brianne Richards of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Brian Hughes, Bureau Chief, and Debra Lynn Pomodore and Lauren Parson, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Acting Executive District Attorney for Special Prosecutions Pishoy Yacoub.