10 SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Queens grand jury declines to indict cop for using illegal chokehold
POLICE BEAT
115TH PRECINCT
(JACKSON HEIGHTS, EAST ELMHURST, AND NORTH
CORONA)
Woman found dead on living room
fl oor of Corona home may have
been there for days: NYPD
Cops found the decomposing body of a 68-year-old woman
on the living room fl oor of a Corona home on Wednesday night,
Sept. 15, police reported.
The woman’s grief-stricken, 45-year-old daughter was also at
the location and brought to Elmhurst Hospital for treatment and
a psychiatric evaluation, law enforcement sources said.
Sources familiar with the investigation indicated that no foul
play is suspected — though it seems the daughter allegedly failed
to report her mother’s death several days aft er it happened.
Offi cers from the 115th Precinct responded to a 911 call at about
6:38 p.m. on Sept. 15 inside an apartment at 34-21 102nd St.
Upon arriving at the scene, they found the 68-year-old
woman’s body on the living room fl oor. Though there were
signs of decomposition, police said her body did not have any
indications of physical trauma.
Responding EMS units confi rmed her death, and brought her
body to the Medical Examiner’s offi ce for an autopsy.
Police have withheld the woman’s identity at this time.
107TH PRECINCT
(FRESH MEADOWS, CUNNINGHAM HEIGHTS, AND
HILLTOP VILLAGE)
Police searching for mugging
suspect
Police from the 107th Precinct are looking for two men who
allegedly mugged a 42-year-old man in Jamaica earlier this
month.
According to the NYPD, the victim was walking in front of
146-01 Hillside Ave. on Monday, Sept. 6 when the two suspects
approached him from behind, knocked him to the ground and
forcibly removed his wallet, taking approximately $200, and
other property from his pockets before running off .
The NYPD released surveillance of the two men as they walked
alongside their victim.
One suspect was wearing a white T-shirt, red Adidas
sweatpants, a red baseball cap on backwards and red sneakers
and a blue mask. The second suspect was wearing a white T-shirt
with Bronx N72 across the chest, a gray knit cap, gray sweatpants
and white and black sneakers.
No arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
A Queens grand jury has cleared
a former NYPD offi cer for using
an illegal chokehold on a suspect
in Rockaway Beach in June 2020.
Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz announced Tuesday, Sept. 14, that
the grand jury considering charges
against former Police Offi cer David
Afanador “has found no true bill and
declined to indict.”
Afanador had faced charges of strangulation
and attempted strangulation
for an incident that occurred on the
Rockaway boardwalk just before 9 a.m.
on Sunday, June 21, during the arrest
of Ricky Bellevue, a 35-year-old Black
man. The incident began when three
men began to get into a verbal altercation
with at least four police offi cers,
NYPD body cam footage showed.
At one point during the dispute,
Bellevue appeared to reach inside of
a trash can, at which point several offi
cers tackled him to the ground, the
video showed.
While being cuff ed, Afanador appeared
to wrap his arm around Bellevue’s
neck in an alleged chokehold.
“He’s choking him,” someone could be
heard yelling off -camera.
Bellevue was seen going limp as he
lost consciousness under Afanador’s
maneuver, the DA said. Afanador
eventually pulled his arm from
around Bellevue’s neck aft er another
offi cer tapped him on his shoulder.
The entire episode was caught on
camera by a passerby and shared
widely online. Aft er the video went
viral, the NYPD released an offi cer’s
body cam footage of the incident and
suspended Afanador without pay by
nightfall the same day.
Afanador turned himself in at the
Queens district attorney’s offi ce in
Kew Gardens and was arraigned
before Queens Criminal Court Judge
Danielle Hartman on Thursday, June
25.
Afanador became the fi rst NYPD
offi cer to be charged under New York
State’s Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold
Act, legislation sponsored by now-
Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin,
and signed into law by Governor
Andrew Cuomo just one week earlier.
The new law made the use of a chokehold
by a police offi cer a felony, and
Afanador — who has since resigned
from the NYPD — faced up to seven
years in jail under the law.
Afanador testified before the
Queens grand jury behind closed
doors, but in a statement, Katz said she
would seek to have a transcript of the
testimony released to the public.
“While the law prohibits me from
discussing the proceedings that took
place in front of the grand jury, in the
interest of transparency I am moving
to have the minutes of the grand jury
unsealed,” Katz said.
Screenshot via NYPD/YouTube
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