Press Releases
SIX DEFENDANTS WHO SURROUNDED AND ATTACKED POLICE AT LONG ISLAND CITY HOTEL SENTENCED
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that the last of the six defendants who attacked police in the early hours of June 17, 2024, outside a hotel on 12th Street in Long Island City has been sentenced. All six defendants pleaded guilty. NYPD officers on patrol spotted young children riding bikes at 4:20 a.m….
MANHATTAN MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS IN JACKSON HEIGHTS IN 2011
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Antonio Olmeda was convicted of two counts attempted murder and other related charges for shooting at two New York City police officers, who had attempted to question him after spotting him on a Jackson Heights corner wearing a disguise, including a fake mustache. District Attorney Katz said:…
ASTORIA MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDER OF FDNY EMS CAPTAIN ALISON RUSSO
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Peter Zisopoulos was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing Captain Alison Russo of the FDNY EMS, in an unprovoked knife attack steps away from her Astoria stationhouse in September 2022. Last month, a jury convicted Zisopoulos of murder in the second degree and…
ASTORIA MAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULT FOR PEPPER SPRAY ATTACK ON MOTHER AND BABY ON SUBWAY TRAIN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Edward Vargas was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly pepper spraying a mother and her 11-month-old daughter on an M train in Long Island City. District Attorney Katz said: “It is particularly outrageous when our children are attacked. As…
TEENAGER CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR MARCH SHOOTING DEATH OF 16-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO HAD JUST EXITED BUS ON LIBERTY AVENUE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 16-year-old male has been charged with murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon for the broad daylight shooting of another teen after both children exited the Q83 MTA bus in Jamaica on March 26. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, a 16-year-old…
FORMER QUEENS HUSBAND AND WIFE INDICTED FOR WAGE THEFT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that married couple Christian Perez and Ines Miranda Perez were indicted on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and other crimes as part of a wage theft scheme to allegedly steal money from employees of two cleaning companies. The two companies associated with the couple are…
DRIVER INDICTED FOR MURDER IN FATAL HIT-AND-RUN OF ASTORIA BICYCLIST
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Bekim Fiseku was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder, manslaughter, unlawful fleeing a police officer, leaving the scene of an incident and related crimes for allegedly running a solid red light at a high rate of speed and fatally striking 36-year-old Amanda Servedio in October…
SEVEN TEENS INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER AND GANG ASSAULT IN ATTACK ON TWO OTHER TEENS IN KISSENA PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that seven teenagers were indicted for attempted murder, gang assault, robbery and other crimes for an attack on two younger teens on May 2 in Kissena Park in Flushing. The defendants are alleged to have beaten the victims with a metal baseball bat, kicked and punched them and…
JAMAICA MAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULT AS A HATE CRIME FOR VIOLENT ATTACK OF MUSLIM SUBWAY RIDER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Naved Durrni was charged with assault in the first degree as a hate crime and other charges for allegedly repeatedly punching and kicking a Muslim woman aboard an E train during the early morning hours on Wednesday. The defendant asked a woman, who was wearing a head covering,…
JAMAICA MAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR HATE CRIME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Gilbert Augustin was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to assault as hate crime earlier this month. After a Kew Gardens fender bender in October 2023, Augustin derided 66-year-old Jasmer Singh as “turban man” and repeatedly punched him, knocking him to the ground. Singh…
DA KATZ AND NYPD TAKE 74 GUNS OFF THE STREETS AT BUYBACK EVENT WITH GREATER ALLEN A.M.E. CATHEDRAL IN SOUTHEAST QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that 74 guns were collected Saturday at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York in Southeast Queens during a gun buyback event. The weapons were exchanged for bank cards pre-loaded with cash. The event was completely anonymous, with no identification required and no questions asked. The buyback is…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON KIDNAPPING AND SEXUAL ASSAULT CHARGES FOR ATTACKING 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL INSIDE FOREST PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that defendant Teddy Moussignac was arraigned on grand jury indictment charges of kidnapping and other crimes for allegedly grabbing an 11-year-old child, dragging her into the woods and sexually assaulting her on May 19 in Forest Park. District Attorney Katz said: “This is every parent’s nightmare. A father…
TWO TEENS CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED GANG ASSAULT FOR BEATING 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL AT ASTORIA SUBWAY STATION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that two 16-year-old girls were charged with attempted gang assault, assault and attempted robbery and other crimes in connection with the beating of a 15-year-old girl in the 46th Street subway station in Astoria on June 2. The defendants and victims are students at William Cullen Bryant High…
QUEENS MAN AND MOTHER INDICTED FOR TARGETING EX- GIRLFRIEND FOR ATTACK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Brayahan Agudelo was indicted for burglary, strangulation, stalking and menacing and other crimes for attacking his ex-girlfriend and then enlisting an undercover police officer to harm her. Agudelo is accused of asking the officer, who was investigating the defendant on another case, to make his ex-girlfriend “a paraplegic.”…
BERNARDO RAUL CASTRO MATA SENTENCED TO 28 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SHOOTING TWO POLICE OFFICERS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Bernardo Raul Castro Mata was sentenced today to 28 years in prison for shooting Police Officer Richard Yarusso in the lower chest area and Police Officer Christopher Abreu in the leg. The officers attempted to stop the defendant on June 3, 2024, for driving the wrong way on…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 34 YEARS IN PRISON FOR RAPING TWO GIRLS – AGES 12 AND 16 – IN SEPARATE INCIDENTS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Viando Ricketts was sentenced to 34 years in prison on multiple counts of rape of two young girls, ages 12 and 16. The defendant took both girls to a Queens motel and raped them in 2022 in separate incidents. District Attorney Katz said: “This sexual predator targeted…
NASSAU COUNTY DRIVER INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGE FOR DRAGGING PEDESTRIAN UNDER VEHICLE WHILE FLEEING COLLISION SCENE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Warren Rollins was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident and related crimes for allegedly driving over a pedestrian who had been hit by another vehicle moments earlier. According to eyewitnesses, Rollins allegedly came to a complete stop and…
BROOKLYN TEENAGER CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING DEATH OF 19-YEAR-OLD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 16-year-old male was indicted for murder in the second degree and other crimes in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Kevin Hernandez in Ridgewood on April 22. The shooting took place on the same street as Joseph F. Quinn Intermediate School 77. District Attorney Katz said: “As…
BROTHERS PLEAD GUILTY TO POSSESSING BOMBS, ASSAULT WEAPONS AND 3D-PRINTED GUNS IN THEIR ASTORIA APARTMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Andrew and Angelo Hatziagelis pleaded guilty to possession of explosive substances, assault weapons and other charges after an arsenal of improvised explosive devices, ghost guns and 3D-printed weapons was found inside an Astoria apartment they shared with their mother and another brother. Instructions for making a variety of…
BROOKLYN MAN INDICTED FOR STABBING DEATH OF FLUSHING WOMAN IN 2022
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Shao Tong Lian was indicted by a grand jury and charged with murder in the second degree for the August 2022 death of 55-year-old Fang Chen, who was discovered fatally stabbed after the defendant visited her Flushing apartment for sex. District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, this…
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