Court Cases
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER IN DEADLY CRASHES THAT KILLED PASSENGER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Harpreet Singh, 20, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other crimes for allegedly driving while intoxicated, running a red light and crashing into two vehicles. A male passenger in the defendant’s car was injured and killed in the early morning collisions on Wednesday,…
FIGHT BETWEEN TWO SHELTER RESIDENTS ENDS WITH ONE DEAD AND THE OTHER CHARGED WITH MURDER; GOOD SAMARITAN INJURED TRYING TO BREAK UP BRAWL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jose Reyes, 28, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on charges of murder and other crimes for allegedly stabbing to death a resident of the Garden Inn Suites in Queens on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. A Good Samaritan who…
GRAND JURY INDICTS QUEENS MAN FOR MURDER IN KILLING OF YOUNG MOTHER HIT BY STRAY BULLET IN ASTORIA LAST MONTH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dajuan Williams, 19, has been indicted by a grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on murder and other charges. Williams was allegedly aiming to shoot a rival gang member when a stray bullet hit and killed a 37-year-old mother of two young children in March….
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME FOR DRAWING SWASTIKA ON A NEIGHBORHOOD SYNAGOGUE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Ramtin Rabenou, 41, has been charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and other crimes for allegedly defacing the Rego Park Jewish Center on Queens Boulevard with a swastika and for scrawling graffiti at multiple other locations in the area in February 2021. “Sadly, we have…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STRAY BULLET KILLING OF YOUNG MOTHER IN ASTORIA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dajuan Williams, 19, is facing murder and weapons charges for allegedly shooting and killing a 37-year-old mother of two young children last month. The victim, an innocent bystander, was hit by a bullet intended for a rival gang member.
MAIL CARRIER CHARGED WITH STEALING CREDIT CARD FROM MAIL ROUTE AND USING IT TO PAY FOR $8,000 PLASTIC SURGERY Defendant Faces Up to Seven Years in Prison if Convicted
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Shakera Small, a United States Postal Service mail carrier, has been charged with identity theft, grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly using a credit card stolen from her postal route. The woman is accused of using that charge card to pay for an $8,000 surgical procedure…
QUEENS SOCCER COACH INDICTED FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STUDENT OVER FIVE YEAR PERIOD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Jose Claros, 57, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on course of sexual conduct against a child, sex abuse and other charges for assaulting a 12-year-old student from 2013 through 2018 in his Richmond Hill, Queens, residence….
QUEENS DA MELINDA KATZ ASKS COURT TO DISMISS HUNDREDS OF CASES AGAINST PEOPLE CHARGED WITH LOITERING FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROSTITUTION AND RELATED CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz appeared in Court today to request the dismissal of nearly 700 cases where people were detained, arrested and charged with loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution and prostitution-related crimes. Since taking office, DA Katz did not prosecute a single person charged with the vague loitering law that far…
REHAB CENTER SOCIAL WORKER CHARGED WITH GRAND LARCENY FOR STEALING NEARLY $150,000 FROM 90-YEAR-OLD PATIENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Olivia Gordon, 28, has been charged with grand larceny, identity theft and other crimes for allegedly stealing nearly $150,000 from an elderly patient at a rehab center where she worked as the Director of Social Services in 2019. The defendant also is accused of setting things in…
QUEENS RESIDENT CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING DEATH OF 33-YEAR-OLD MAN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Mark Watson, 24, has been charged with murder and other crimes in the shooting death of a 33-year-old man in Hollis, Queens, Tuesday evening. District Attorney Katz said, “A game of dice turned deadly after the defendant allegedly robbed and shot the victim to death. This…
FIFTH INDICTED DEFENDANT APPREHENDED AND CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY IN MILLION DOLLAR LUXURY GOODS HEIST FROM JFK AIRPORT IN 2020
Crew Allegedly Stole Millions of Dollars in Gucci, Chanel and Prada Merchandise; Defendant Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison if Convicted
QUEENS COUPLE INDICTED ON SEX TRAFFICKING AND OTHER CHARGES FOR TRANSPORTING WOMEN FROM KOREA AND FORCING THEM INTO PROSTITUTION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Jung Ja Ornstein, 62, and Eric Ornstein, 49, have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on sex trafficking charges and other crimes for allegedly bringing two female victims from Korea and coercing them to…
QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY INDICTS CAR WASH EMPLOYEE ON VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER AND DRUNK DRIVING CHARGES IN DEATH OF WOMAN STRUCK WHILE WALKING TO HER JUST-CLEANED AUTO
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a Queens County grand jury has indicted Edwin Vargas Tabares, 43, who was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on vehicular manslaughter and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol charges. The defendant was allegedly intoxicated while working at an Ozone Park car wash business and struck…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY FILES JOINT MOTION WITH DEFENSE TO VACATE CONVICTIONS IN 1996 DOUBLE MURDER CASE BASED ON FAILURE TO DISCLOSE EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE
Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced the filing of a joint motion with defense counsel to vacate the convictions of George Bell, Gary Johnson, and Rohan Bolt, who were convicted of the December 21, 1996, murders of Ira “Mike” Epstein and NYPD Police Officer Charles Davis in the course of robbing Mr. Epstein’s…
GRAND JURY INDICTS QUEENS RESIDENT IN HIT AND RUN CRASH THAT KILLED GOOD SAMARITAN WHO STOPPED TO HELP MAN HAVING CAR TROUBLE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Kevin Drawhorne, 27, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on criminally negligent homicide charges and other crimes for allegedly hitting and killing one man and injuring another on January 29, 2021. The victim was a Good Samaritan who had…
QUEENS HOME HEALTH AIDE CHARGED WITH STEALING NEARLY $100,000 FROM LEGALLY BLIND 89-YEAR-OLD WOMAN
Defendant Allegedly Duped Victim into Signing Checks That Greatly Exceeded Weekly Pay; Accused Faces Up to 15 Years in Prison if Convicted Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Sita Saunders, 61, has been charged with grand larceny, identity theft and other crimes for allegedly siphoning nearly $100,000 from her legally blind, 89-year-old patient’s…
MAN INDICTED ON ROBBERY AND ASSAULT CHARGES FOR PURSE SNATCHING THAT INJURED ELDERLY WOMAN IN FOREST HILLS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Alhusene Danso, 20, has been arraigned in Supreme Court following a Queens County grand jury handing up an indictment charging the defendant with robbery and assault for a vicious attack on an octogenarian. The victim was attacked as she exited her parking garage in Forest Hills on…
CELEBRITY PERSONAL SHOPPER CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING COMEDIAN KEVIN HART OUT OF MORE THAN $1 MILLION IN FRAUDULENT CREDIT CARD PURCHASES
Queens County Grand Jury Indicts Defendant on Grand Larceny and Other Charges; Defendant Allegedly Used Comedian’s Credit Card to Purchase Luxury Items and Enrich Himself; Queens Man Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison if Convicted
QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER IN STABBING DEATH OF HIS 72-YEAR-OLD FATHER
While in Custody, Defendant Allegedly Damaged Precinct Interview Room; Faces Up to 25 Years-to-Life in Prison if Convicted
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS IN PRISON AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN STABBING DEATH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that John Daves, 34, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the September 2018 stabbing death of a 25-year-old Long Island man. The two men had a heated dispute near a food cart in Jackson Heights, Queens. District Attorney Katz said,…
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