2 DECEMBER 9, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Homeless man charged with attempted murder of
another homeless man at Cooper Avenue shelter
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
A homeless man is in custody
for allegedly stabbing another
homeless man multiple times at
the Cooper Avenue shelter in Glendale
last month.
Victor Rodriguez, who resides at
78-16 Cooper Ave., was arrested Dec. 2
and is facing several charges, including
attempted murder in the second
degree, assault in the fi rst degree and
criminal possession of a weapon in the
fourth degree, according to the Queens
district attorney’s offi ce.
According to the charges, on or
about Nov. 22 around 9:20 p.m., Hammond
Parrish, who also resides 78-16
Cooper Ave., allegedly had a physical
altercation with Rodriguez. About
20 minutes following the altercation,
Parrish stood outside of the shelter and
saw Rodriguez approach the front door,
where he stood and spoke “harshly” to
Parrish.
Parrish then opened the door, at
which point Rodriguez allegedly displayed
a knife and repeatedly stabbed
Parrish in the back, face, neck and
chest. The incident caused Parrish
two stab wounds to his chest; two stab
wounds to his neck and behind his ear;
and three stab wounds to his back, the
charges state.
Parrish was later transported to an
area hospital, where he was treated
for the stab wounds, according to the
charges. According to a registered
nurse at the hospital, Parrish sustained
deep stab wounds to his back, chest,
face and the back of his head that required
stitches and may leave permanent
scarring to his face, the charges
state.
Parrish received 14 stitches to one
side of his face and four stitches to
the other side, two stitches to his head
and four stitches to his back in order
to close the stab wounds, according to
the charges.
Rodriguez’s first court date was
on Monday, Dec. 6. He is currently
remanded without bail.
The Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center
at 78-16 Cooper Ave. came with steep
backlash and years of protests from
many Glendale residents and local
elected offi cials. But even as a coalition
of residents fi led a lawsuit to stop it from
opening, the 200-bed men shelter, operated
by Westchester-based nonprofi t
Westhab, opened in February 2020.
In July of 2020, Councilman Robert
Holden — a longtime critic of the
shelter who partly ran his election
campaign on stopping then shutting
down the facility — again called on the
shelter to close following reports of a
robbery by a residents at the shelter
and an assault at the shelter at the time.
“I am sick and tired of this shelter, and
all the @NYCDHS lies that were given
to our community,” Holden tweeted last
year. “This shelter has been a disaster
since it opened. It must be closed now
and never be allowed to reopen.”
The NYC Department of Homeless
Services did not respond to QNS’
request for comment regarding the
incident.
The Cooper Rapid Rehousing Center at 78-16 Cooper Ave. was once a
factory. QNS fi le photo
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