12 The QUEE NS Courier • FEBRUARY 18, 2016 FOR Breaking news visit www.qns.com Compiled by Anthony Giudice, Angela police beat Matua, Courtney Obeng and Robert Pozarycki 109th Precinct Bayside, College Point, Flushing, Whitestone Hate crime charges for Flushing man who targeted & beat Chinese women A Flushing man is behind bars on high bail for allegedly assaulting and robbing two Chinese women in Flushing that were motivated by hate, according to prosecutors. Key S. Lee, 34, of Hawthorne Avenue was arrested soon after he mugged a woman on Feb. 10 as she walked toward the apartment building where she lives. Authorities said Lee punched the woman several times, then took off with her handbag, which contained credit cards, identification and $2,000 in cash. Reportedly, Lee targeted the victim after she cut him off in traffic while driving home. Police said he followed her by car and later on foot before attacking her. Following his arrest, Lee was linked to a second attack on Jan. 27, in which he allegedly rushed a woman who was shoveling out her car after last month’s blizzard. When the woman opened the back door of the car, authorities said, Lee allegedly pushed her into the back seat, punched her in the face, grabbed her purse and fled. This incident, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, was caught on tape. In statements made to the 109th Precinct, Lee allegedly admitted that he attacked the women in part because they were of Chinese origin. “The defendant, who is Korean, is accused of acting on his hatred for Chinese people. He allegedly sought out these two women because of their race,” Brown said in a statement Thursday. “This kind of bigotry and racism is not acceptable in a civilized society. The defendant now faces serious jail time.” Lee was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Thursday on two complaints charging him with second degree robbery as a hate crime; third-degree assault as a hate crime; unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime; and criminal possession of stolen property. Queens Supreme Court Judge Peter Vallone ordered Lee held on $1 million combined bail and to return to court on Feb. 25. Lee faces up to 50 years behind bars if convicted of the charges, Brown said. 110th Precinct Corona, Elmhurst Armed and disgusting: Man forces woman to watch him masturbate in Corona Detectives are searching for a perpetrator who pulled a gun on a woman and forced her to watch him masturbate in his car at a Corona gas station earlier this month. At about 10:10 p.m. on Feb. 5, police said, the suspect pulled up and parked his gold GMC Yukon next to the 30-year-old victim’s car at the BP station at 99-49 Horace Harding Expwy. Reportedly, he pointed a gun at the woman, who was outside of her car. The victim locked herself inside of her car while the suspect masturbated inside of his GMC Yukon with the door open. He also yelled obscenities at her before driving away, police said. The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, about 30 to 40 years old, weighing 200 pounds and standing about 5 feet, 7 inches tall. He was last seen wearing a blue and gray hooded sweater, light blue jeans and yellow boots. Anyone with information in regards 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 Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confidential. 115th Precinct East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights Educator at East Elmhurst mosque sexually abused girl An after-school instructor at an East Elmhurst mosque was arraigned on Feb. 10 on charges that he allegedly molested a 9-year-old girl, prosecutors announced. Mohammed Rana, 46, allegedly abused the victim on two occasions between Nov. 30, 2015, and Jan. 28, 2016, while she attended the afterschool religious program at the Masjid Abu Huraira Mosque located at 78-04 31st Ave. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said authorities learned of the incidents after the victim attended a sex abuse prevention workshop at the public school she attends. During the workshop, she confidentially informed the instructor that she had been abused allegedly by Rana, who was charged through an investigation by the NYPD Queens Child Abuse Squad. In one incident, according to the charges, Rana reached under the girl’s clothing and squeezed her chest with his hand while saying she was a good girl. Prosecutors said he again molested the victim in a similar manner — this time, with his hands over her clothing — on Feb. 3. “Rana is accused of using his position as a religious instructor at a mosque to prey on a young student,” Brown said in a statement on Feb. 10. “This case should serve as a clear and unmistakable warning that law enforcement is prepared to apprehend and prosecute sexual predators who betray and defile youngsters.” During his arraignment hearing Wednesday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone Jr., Rana was booked on two counts of firstdegree sexual abuse and a child endangerment count. He was ordered held on $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash bail and to return to court on Feb. 26. If convicted, Rana faces up to seven years behind bars. TRIPLE HOMICIDE SUSPECT APPREHENDED IN WOODSIDE The man wanted for a brutal triple murder on Staten Island was apprehended in Woodside on Feb. 13, police announced. Published reports say that Michael Sykes, who is accused of fatally stabbing the mother of his child and her three daughters in a Staten Island hotel Wet Basement? Call artie Basement Water Proofing Specialist Serving Queens for 35 Years For more information contact Artie DiBiase Mason Contractor 718.767.0072 Licensed #08097 and Insured on Feb. 10, was collared by officers near 31st Street in Woodside. Police said Sykes was taken into custody at 3:30 p.m. Officers of the 121st Precinct and member of the Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended Sykes, law enforcement agents said. He is accused of killing Brooklyn’s Rebecca Cutler, 26, and two of her children, Maiyah Sikes, 4 months old, and Ziana Cutler, 1 year old. The victim’s 2-year-old daughter survived the attack. Cutler and her children were homeless and temporarily residing at the Staten Island hotel. BOSTON DRIFTER SENTENCED TO SERVE 25 YEARS FOR MURDERING WOODSIDE MAN A drifter from Boston accused of strangulation and robbery of a Woodside resident was sentenced on Feb. 16 to serve 25 years to life behind bars, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced. Raymond Epps, 59, was convicted Jan. 28 of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and fourth-degree grand larceny, according to Brown. Epps met the victim, Wayne Graves, 62, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and stayed with him at his Berkeley Towers apartment in Woodside, Queens, from Oct. 16 to 18, 2011, according to trial testimony. “The defendant repaid his benefactor’s generous act of kindness by strangling him in his own home and then stealing his credit cards,” Brown said. Evidence introduced at the trial revealed that Epps used Graves’ credit cards to purchase a bus ticket to Boston and various merchandise, which he used to trade for crack cocaine. A friend of Graves testified that he visited the Woodside apartment Oct. 16, 2011, and Epps introduced himself and said he was staying a few nights with Graves. On Oct. 19, the victim’s friend visited the apartment and when Graves didn’t answer he had the building superintendent open the door. The friend found Graves’ body in the bathtub. Strangulation was ruled as the cause of death.
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