Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Osvel Diaz was arraigned on a criminal complaint charging him with attempted murder and assault in the beating of a 62-year-old worker at the Sunnyside Mini Mart in Woodside on June 17. Diaz allegedly pummeled the victim until he was rendered unconscious and then continued to kick him as he lay on the deli floor.

District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant is alleged to have brutally beaten a defenseless store employee until he was unconscious and then went on to repeatedly kick the motionless victim in the head. Business owners and their workers should never have to fear that they will be the targets of violence. We will do everything we can to protect shopkeepers because when our local businesses thrive, our communities thrive.”

Diaz, 29, of 62^nd Drive in Forest Hills was arraigned last night on a criminal complaint charging him with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the first and second degrees.

Judge Edward Daniels remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to court on July 2. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

According to the charges:

• On June 17, at approximately 11:17 p.m., video surveillance shows Diaz at the Sunnyside Mini Mart at 63-20 Broadway repeatedly punching and kicking employee Abdul Alshawish, 62, in the face, body and head to the point where the victim appears to be unconscious.
• Diaz was then seen on video continuing to kick Alshawish in the face and head numerous times as the victim was motionless on the ground. The victim’s head appears to be striking against a store counter after being kicked.
• The victim was taken to a local hospital where he is still being treated for his injuries including a brain hemorrhage, facial fractures, a mid-face separation and fractured eye socket, nose and sinuses.
• Diaz was arrested Wednesday at his home.
• He was also charged in two separate complaints with criminal mischief in the fourth degree, making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments. He was allegedly seen on video surveillance on January 24, between approximately 1:18 and 1:29 a.m., spraying paint on the side of a florist at 62-06 Flushing Avenue in Maspeth.
• On January 25, at approximately 1:53 a.m., he was seen on video surveillance spraying black paint on a private home on 71^st Street in Woodside.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Salmon of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michael Whitney, Bureau Chief, Roni Piplani, Deputy Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.