TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | JAN. 24-JAN. 30, 2020
POLICE BLOTTER
BY JACOB KAYE
107th Precinct
Fresh Meadows
The NYPD is looking
for a man in connection
with a string of eight robberies
that all occurred
over the course of a month
in Fresh Meadows.
One man has already
been arrested in connection
with the case.
From Dec. 9, to Dec. 24,
the duo — police say there
might be a third, but could
not confirm — approached
eight women in Fresh
Meadows, all but one older
than 40 years old, and grabbed their respective
purses before fleeing, either on
foot or in a car.
Pursuant to an ongoing investigation,
Kyliek Washington, a 22-year-old
man from St. Albans, was arrested on
Dec. 24, the day of the eighth and final
reported robbery. Washington was
charged with robbery, grand larceny,
possession of a forged instrument,
two counts of identity theft, criminal
possession of stolen property, theft of
service, unlawful use of a credit card
and unlawful possession of personal
identification information.
In all eight robberies, victims only
reported one man snatching their
purse, according to the NYPD. Police
could not confirm which person —
Washington or the unidentified man
— was the one allegedly grabbing
the purses, or if they switched from
robbery to robbery.
The first robbery occurred on Monday,
Dec. 9, around 7 p.m., in the vicinity
of 67th Avenue and 194th Lane. An individual
approached a 44-year-old woman
from behind and grabbed her purse. After
a brief struggle for control of the bag,
the woman fell to the ground and the
man made off with her purse, according
to the police.
About a week later, on Sunday, Dec.
15, around 1 p.m., an individual snatched
a purse belonging to a 47-year-old woman,
entered a silver car and sped off, cops
say. The incident took place in the vicinity
of 67th Avenue and Peck Avenue.
Later that day, around 3:15 p.m., an
individual approached a 49-year-old
woman from behind, grabbed her purse
and ran off on foot, according to the authorities.
On Friday, Dec. 20, around 6:30 p.m.,
an individual approached a 67-year-old
woman, grabbed her purse and shoved
her to the ground, police say. The individual
hopped into a black sedan and
fled the scene. The woman later reported
that that she had $350 in cash, a
cellphone and two credit cards inside
her purse. According to the NYPD, an
investigation later revealed that one of
the woman’s credit cards was used at a
Sephora, located at 212-01 26th Ave. in
Bay Terrace, about an hour later.
On Sunday, Dec. 22, the duo allegedly
committed two robberies. The
first occurred around 10 a.m., in the vicinity
of 188th Street and 73rd Avenue.
An individual approached a 44-year-old
woman, grabbed her purse, pushed her
to the ground and fled, according the
NYPD. Then, around noon, in the vicinity
of 199th Street and 69th Avenue,
a 51-year-old woman reported that an
individual grabbed her purse and fled
in a sedan.
Two days later, on Christmas Eve, an
individual grabbed a 40-year-old woman’s
purse around 8:35 a.m. near Peck
Avenue and 67th Avenue, police say.
Five minutes later, a 38-year-old woman
was robbed of her purse around 190th
Lane and 69th Avenue. Around 9:55 a.m.
that same day, the police arrested Washington,
according to the NYPD.
The unapprehended man wanted
in connection with the robberies appears
in the video below. He was last
seen wearing a gray hooded sweater, a
dark-colored jacket and blue jeans. The
vehicles connected to robberies are described
as a gray four-door Mercedes
Benz and a dark-colored BMW.
Anyone with information in regard to
this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s
Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS
(8477) or for Spanish, 888-57-PISTA
(74782). The public can also submit their
tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers
website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.
COM or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
All calls are strictly confidential.
106th Precinct
Richmond Hill
BY BILL PARRY
A Queens grand jury indicted a
Richmond Hill man on murder and
sexual abuse charges Wednesday in
the vicious attack of a 92-year-old woman,
according to the Queens District
Attorney’s Office.
Maria Fuertes was walking near her
home just after midnight on Jan. 6 when
Reeaz Khan, 21, allegedly threw her to
the ground, sexually assaulted her,
and then fled the scene, according to
prosecutors.
Khan will be arraigned before
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth
C. Holder on Feb.4. If convicted,
Khan faces 25 years to life in prison.
Khan was captured on surveillance
footage following Fuertes as she
walked on 127th Avenue near Liberty
Avenue, when he allegedly attacked
her from behind onto the sidewalk, according
to charges. The defendant is
alleged to have sexually assaulted her,
according to an autopsy performed
by the medical examiner. Khan was
then observed on surveillance video
sprinting away.
Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz said the victim was found by a
passerby who called 911 around 2:14
a.m. Fuertes was barely conscious and
incoherent when she was transported to
a nearby hospital. She sustained a fractured
spine in two places, two rib fractures,
bruising to her neck and chest
and other injuries. She died as a result
of those injuries, according to Katz.
“A grand jury has taken action indicting
this defendant to hold him accountable
for the horrible attack of an
elderly woman, who was beloved in
her neighborhood,” Katz said. “The defendant
is accused of pouncing on the
92-year-old woman from behind, throwing
her to the ground and then sexually
assaulting her before he ran from the
scene. The victim was discovered hours
later barely conscious, incoherent and
naked from the waist down. The defendant
has been apprehended and will be
prosecuted for his alleged heinous actions.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio is
defending his administration’s “sanctuary
city” policy after U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement said Khan
should have been deported back in
November. ICE claims Khan was here
illegally from Guyana when he was
arrested by the NYPD for the charges
of assault and criminal possession of a
weapon on Nov. 27 after he allegedly cut
his father in the chest and arm with a
mug during an argument.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations
deportation officers lodged a
detainer with the NYPD but under city
policy ICE detainers are honored only
when the person has been convicted of
a “violent or serious” crime within five
years of the arrest.
“It was a deadly choice to release
a man on an active ICE detainer back
on to the streets after his first arrest
included assault and weapons charges,
and now he faces new charges including
murder,” ERO New York Field Office Director
Thomas R. Decker said Monday.
“Clearly the politicians care more about
criminal illegal aliens than the citizens
they are elected to serve and respect.”
QNS reached out to City Hall and is
awaiting a response. During a groundbreaking
ceremony in Long Island City,
de Blasio spoke to WCBS on the matter.
“I don’t know every fact of what happened
before, but I know something
fundamental. We believe that it is right
to hold the standard. If someone is convicted
of one of those crimes, they’re
out of here. It’s as simple as that,” de
Blasio said. “If someone is accused of a
crime, they still, of course, have a right
to trial.”
Police seek suspect in Fresh Meadows robberies
Grand jury indicts Rich Hill man on murder
charges in death of 92-year-old woman