Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Michael Fan was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a violent attack on a Queens woman as she stood in front of her residence in 2022. Fan and his codefendants tied up the victim, held her at knifepoint and then burglarized her home. The defendant failed to return to court during trial in April and was convicted in absentia. He was apprehended in November.

District Attorney Katz said: “Michael Fan attacked a young woman, ransacked her home and thought he could get away with it. He thumbed his nose at the criminal justice system by defying a judge’s instructions not to leave the courtroom during his trial and was convicted in absentia. I thank my prosecutors who secured this conviction and our law enforcement partners who never stopped looking for this defendant.”

Fan, 25, of Farrington Street, Flushing, was convicted in absentia in May of burglary in the first and second degrees, robbery in the first degree, two counts of robbery in the second degree and unlawful imprisonment in the second degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gary Miret.

Miret sentenced the defendant today to 20 years in prison to be followed by five years post-release supervision.

On April 28, Fan appeared in court before Justice Miret. The case was adjourned for an afternoon call and the defendant was instructed not to leave the courtroom. The defendant later exited the building and failed to return to court. A bench warrant was issued. He was then tried and convicted in absentia.

Fan was apprehended in Kew Gardens Hills on November 7.

Fan’s codefendant Sihao Wang, 25, of Booth Memorial Avenue in Flushing, pleaded guilty on January 18, 2024, to attempted robbery in the second degree. He was sentenced to two years in prison and two years post-release supervision. Codefendant Dong Ming Shi, 24, of 58^th Avenue, also in Flushing, is believed to have fled the country.

According to the charges, on September 7, 2022, around 3 a.m., the defendant along with two codefendants, all dressed in black and wearing black masks, approached the 20-year-old victim in front of her home on Parsons Boulevard. The defendants grabbed her and then dragged her inside her apartment. While inside, Fan demanded the victim’s cell phone at knifepoint and took her into a separate room where her hands were zip-tied together. The victim’s partner, who was in the basement, observed the incident on video and called the police.

When a responding officer arrived at the location he observed defendant Fan through a window. At that time the victim was able to release her hands from the zip ties and ran outside. The woman opened a gate that gave the police access to the building and all three defendants then fled the rear of the location. Defendant Wang was immediately apprehended and dropped an air pistol during the brief chase. The responding officer recovered the complainant’s cellphone from Wang’s pocket.

Defendant Shi was apprehended minutes later by a responding NYPD lieutenant. As the lieutenant continued the search, he located defendant Fan under a deck in an adjacent backyard. Fan was apprehended and approximately $1,441 was recovered from the defendant’s pocket.

Assistant District Attorneys Hugh McCann, of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal and Major Crimes Bureau, prosecuted the case with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Julia Hsieh of the District Attorneys Felony Trial Bureau IV, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael Whitney, Bureau Chief of the Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau, and Karen Rankin, of Felony Trial Bureau IV, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.