16 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 22, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Animal abuser
pushed offi cer
down the stairs
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
A Jackson Heights woman who was
previously convicted of animal cruelty
is heading for more jail time for
assaulting a probation offi cer and
abusing more animals.
Following a monthlong trial,
Elizabeth Grant, 51, was found guilty
by Queens Supreme Court Justice
Daniel Lewis of second-degree assault,
second-degree harassment, sixteen
counts of criminal contempt and sixteen
counts of failing to provide proper
food and drink to an impounded
animal. Judge Lewis set sentencing for
Sept. 24, where Grant faces up to seven
years in prison.
Grant was previously convicted of
108 animal cruelty charges in March
2018. She was placed on probation
for 10 years and was also banned
from owning or possessing animals
of any kind for 10 years and required
to register with the New York City
Department of Health as an animal
abuser.
According to trial testimony, following
Grant’s previous animal cruelty
conviction, she was informed that
there would be unannounced visits by
a probation offi cer during her probationary
period. At 7 a.m. on Aug. 29,
2018, a probation offi cer conducted
a visit at Grant’s home and upon her
arrival, was greeted by Grant’s mother
at the door.
While she was inside, according to
testimony, the probation offi cer saw
animals in the home, including cats
on the fi rst fl oor and dogs on the second
fl oor in a bedroom. Th e probation
offi cer also saw other pets living
in the unkempt house, where feces littered
the fl oor and an unpleasant odor
fi lled the home.
When Grant encountered the offi cer,
screamed obscenities at the offi cer and
pushed her as she was walking down
the stairs from the second fl oor. Th e
offi cer slipped down several steps and,
in an eff ort to keep herself from falling
further, twisted her back to grab onto
the bannister. As a result of the shove,
she sustained a back injury.
Cops battle robbery rash in Ozone Park
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
AND EMILY DAVENPORT
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Cops are looking for two thieves who
stole property from a man and sliced his
face along an Ozone Park street last week
— the latest in a series of violent robberies
to hit the neighborhood.
Law enforcement sources said the trouble
began at about 7:10 a.m. on Aug. 14, as
a 30-year-old man sat in a vehicle parked
along 83rd Street between 133rd Avenue
and Spritz Road, adjacent to Tudor Park.
At that time, authorities noted, the two
suspects approached the vehicle. One of
the men opened the passenger side door
and removed a cellphone, while his cohort
opened the driver’s side door and slashed
the victim in the face.
Th e suspects then fl ed the scene in an
unknown direction, cops said.
Offi cers from the 106th Precinct
responded to the incident. Th e victim was
treated at Jamaica Hospital for a laceration
to his face.
On Aug. 18, the NYPD released video
footage of the two perpetrators, captured
by a nearby home security camera.
Detectives are investigating two other,
unrelated robberies that occurred in
Ozone Park within the last 10 days.
On Aug. 10, two male suspects
ambushed a woman as she opened the
front door to her residence in the area of
Sutter Avenue and 77th Street in a failed
home invasion.
Two suspects wanted for an Aug. 14 robbery and slashing in Ozone Park, one of several recent violent
robberies in the neighborhood.
At 9 p.m. that evening, authorities
said, a 37-year-old woman was entering
her home, located in the vicinity
of Sutter Avenue and 77th Street, when
she was approached from behind by two
unknown men. Th e men demanded that
she open the door and took her keys from
her hands.
Aft er taking the keys, the suspects tried
to unlock the door, but were ultimately
unsuccessful. Th e suspects fl ed the scene
in a waiting vehicle in an unknown direction.
Th e victim was not injured as a result
of the incident.
Screenshot of video courtesy of NYPD
Four days later, on Aug. 14, two other
crooks forced their way into a home in the
area of 95th Avenue and 77th Street and
robbed a woman at gunpoint.
In that caper, police said, a 58-yearold
woman was in her bedroom at 4:20
p.m. that day when the two unidentifi ed
suspects entered, displayed fi rearms and
demanded money. Th e gunmen grabbed
a cellphone and jewelry, then bolted from
the scene in an unknown direction.
All three cases remain under investigation.
Call 800-577-TIPS with information
on any of them.
Ozone Park woman cuff ed in motorcycle theft ring
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Attorney General Letitia James
announced the arrest of a motorcycle
theft and distribution operation in New
York City last week.
Aft er an investigation that worked closely
with the Queens District Attorney’s
offi ce, James charged the 11-member ring
with 187 crimes related to the theft of
43 motorcycles in Brooklyn, Manhattan,
Queens and the Bronx during a sixmonth
period from November 2018 to
May 2019.
One of the members of the alleged ring,
22-year-old Ozone Park resident Tiahra
Jones, aka Tia, is the youngest member
of the crew.
“Th e joyride is over for this group,”
said James. “For months, these individuals
allegedly stole dozens of motorcycles
from unsuspecting New Yorkers and then
dismantled them for profi t or resold them
to customers who knowingly purchased
stolen goods.”
Kings County Supreme Court Judge
Danny Chun charged the 11 defendants
with numerous counts of criminal possession
of stolen property in the third and
fourth degrees, grand larceny in the third
and fourth degrees, unauthorized use of
a motor vehicle, auto stripping and conspiracy
in the fi ft h degree, among other
charges, for conspiring to steal, possess
and sell 43 stolen motorcycles and one
stolen GMC Savana van, valued at a total
of over $280,000.
Th e investigation culled hundreds of
hours of covert observation, wiretapping
on target phones, the fi ndings of
search warrants and surveillance footage.
Th rough listening and watching the
footage, the investigators said that they
began to decipher the alleged conspirators’
slang, such as “busting a move” for
stealing a bike, “chopping it up” for dismantling
parts and “stamping” for altering
a vehicle identifi cation number.
If convicted, each of the defendants
faces a maximum of seven years in prison.
Th e investigation began in the Queens
District Attorney’s offi ce before it was
ultimately cultivated and completed by
the Attorney General’s Organized Crime
Task Force (OCTF) and the New York
City Police Department’s Auto Crime
Division.
Photo via Getty Images
Photo courtesy of Jess Hawsor/Wikimedia Commons
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