Press Releases
Statement Regarding Chokeholds and Other Restraining Techniques
As we have seen recently with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and six years ago right here in New York City with the death of Eric Garner, the use of chokeholds and other holds or restraining techniques that can cut off the supply of oxygen to a person’s brain have an unacceptably high…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ INTRODUCES THE OFFICE’S MAJOR ECONOMIC CRIMES BUREAU
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today the creation of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau in her newly reorganized Investigations Division. This Bureau combines the former Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau with components of the former Economics Crimes Bureau. This new crime fighting team will investigate and prosecute a broad array of large-scale financial crimes…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIMES FOR SHOOTING AT VICTIMS WHO WERE DRIVING IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a Queens man has been charged with attempted murder as a hate crime and other charges after he followed a vehicle that was driving in his neighborhood, then pulled out a gun and fired on the occupants of the car. District Attorney Katz said, “Public streets belong…
WHITESTONE MAN SEEN ON VIRAL VIDEOS ATTACKING BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTERS WHILE WEARING 4-BLADE KNIFE CLAW CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced the arrest of a 54-year-old Queens man who was allegedly observed on viral videos attacking peaceful demonstrators on Tuesday afternoon in Whitestone, Queens. The nonviolent gathering on the overpass above the Cross Island Parkway turned into a frenzied scene with the defendant hopping out of his vehicle and…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH FIRST DEGREE ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING AT POLICE OFFICERS IN FAR ROCKAWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 21-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in the first degree and other crimes for allegedly firing at cops who sat in a patrol car in Far Rockaway Sunday night. The officers heard the shots just before the marked vehicle was jolted by bullets that…
STATEMENT OF QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ IN SUPPORT OF REPEALING THE LOITERING LAW IN REGARDS TO PROSTITUTION
District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced her support for a bill that would repeal the crime of loitering for the purposes of prostitution from the New York State Penal Law. Since taking office on January 1st the District Attorney has not charged or convicted a single individual for the crime of loitering for the purposes…
COVID-19 and the Opioid Epidemic
As the Coronavirus Disease 2019 – more commonly referred to as COVID-19 – continues to sweep across our country and particularly in our home borough of Queens, we must keep in mind that another epidemic was already on the rise and is still one of the greatest public health threats facing this generation. Opioid addiction…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ANNOUNCES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COLD CASE UNIT
District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today the creation of the first Cold Case Unit in Queens County. This specialized Unit is dedicated to investigating and solving the borough’s oldest and most challenging unsolved homicide cases. The Queens District Attorney’s Office seeks to provide justice for all crime victims no matter when the crime was committed….
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ISSUES WARNINGS TO PARENTS ABOUT ONLINE CHILD PREDATORS
The spread of the coronavirus has brought new challenges and responsibilities to all the parents and guardians in Queens County. With schools closed many teens and preteens are finding more time to explore the internet on computers and phones. Teens are naturally curious about everything including their sexuality and in this very difficult time may…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND QUEENS BOROUGH PRESIDENT TO HOLD VIRTUAL MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCE CEREMONY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Acting Queens Borough President Sharon Lee together will host a Virtual Memorial Day Observance Ceremony on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at www.queensbp.org from the borough home to the highest population of veterans in the City of New York. This is an online-only event, and everyone is…
QUEENS VILLAGE MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STABBING DEATH OF HIS 22-YEAR-OLD HALF BROTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a 29-year-old Queens Village man has been charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for a deadly stabbing that ended the life of his half-brother in a house on 208th Street in Queens Village last week. District Attorney Katz said, “This was an…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ANNOUNCES HUMAN TRAFFICKING BUREAU
District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced the creation of a Human Trafficking Bureau that is exclusively dedicated to combating human trafficking in Queens County. This newly formed Bureau will combat sex and labor trafficking by aggressively prosecuting traffickers and buyers of sex and will also connect survivors of trafficking with meaningful services to empower them…
UPDATE FROM QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON EXPEDITING DISPOSITIONS OF CRIMINAL CASES TO AVOID KEEPING DEFENDANTS AT RIKERS ISLAND DURING PANDEMIC
The Queens District Attorney’s Office had its first pre-indictment felony plea this week during this on-going health crisis. The Office has taken other felony pleas in Supreme Court, post-indictment during the current pandemic. However, this pre-indictment case was moved up from its scheduled June 4, 2020 court date and the defendant appeared virtually in Queens…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ INTRODUCES THE OFFICE’S CONVICTION INTEGRITY UNIT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that the new Conviction Integrity Unit she established on January 1, 2020, has been actively working to make sure that no one has been wrongfully convicted of a crime in Queens County. This Unit is the District Attorney’s signature initiative and one of the first promises she made…
TWO CREWS OF DRUG DEALERS AND GUN TRAFFICKERS DISMANTLED IN QUEENS FOLLOWING LONG-TERM INVESTIGATIONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, today announced that two interconnected dangerous and complex illegal enterprises selling drugs and firearms throughout Jamaica, Queens have been dismantled with the arrests of 7 defendants Wednesday and Thursday, and 1 previously arrested in March. Two long-term investigations led to a…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STABBING DEATH OF MOTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 48-year-old Woodside, Queens resident has been charged with murder for slashing his elderly mother in head with a kitchen knife early Friday, April 24, 2020. The defendant allegedly said he didn’t know why he did this – but that he woke up, grabbed a butcher knife…
CORONA TEEN CHARGED WITH ASSAULT IN CRASH THAT INJURED NASSAU COUNTY POLICE DETECTIVE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that a Corona, Queens resident has been charged with first-degree assault and other crimes for allegedly crashing the car he was driving at the moment a Nassau County Police Detective was gaining access through the passenger side door. The vehicle slammed into another car with the detective between…
QUEENS RESIDENT CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STABBING DEATH OF MAN WHO TRIED TO BREAK UP FIGHT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a Queens resident has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing death of a 43-year-old man, who intervened when the defendant became embroiled in a fight with a property owner on April 13, 2020. District Attorney Katz said, “The victim in this case was allegedly stabbed…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON TODAY’S COURT PROCEEDINGS TO RELEASE RIKERS INMATES
As the highly-contagious coronavirus spreads throughout our City and communities, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and the Office’s senior staff are carefully reviewing many requests for defendants to be immediately released from the City’s jails. The Office collaborates with defense attorneys, the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Corrections to identify those whose release would…
STATEMENT OF QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ON CORONAVIRUS-INSPIRED HATE CRIMES
Queens is arguably the most diverse county in the world and home to the largest immigrant population in New York City. This diversity is our strength and makes Queens County an amazing place to live, work and visit. We are the World’s Borough and hate crimes have no place here. Crimes motivated by hate are…
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