16 THE QUEENS COURIER • MAY 16, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Little Neck rape suspect turns himself in to cops
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
Th e Brooklyn man arrested in connection
Mayor raises ire for e-bike remarks as Queens pols push for legalization
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
2@QNS
As Queens lawmakers try to move the
legalization of electronic bikes (e-bikes)
forward, Mayor Bill de Blasio reignited
criticism against him on May 10 for policies
banning the use of electronic bikes
and scooters, resulting in fi nes and confi scations
that impact those in the city who
can spare the least, some say.
On Friday’s Brian Lehrer Show on
WNYC radio, de Blasio responded to
a caller question about whether there
would be action against careless operators
of e-bikes who do not follow traffi c regulations
by stating he would work with the
Legislature to govern the speeds.
Th e mayor also said it should be the
business owners answering for e-bike
violations rather than the rider. “We’ve
seen them going the wrong way, weaving
through traffi c, going up on the sidewalks,
all the things that many, many
New Yorkers fi nd dangerous and unsettling,
and they can reach very high speeds.
And they’re illegal in New York City,” de
Blasio said. “We are trying to work with
the state Legislature that has the jurisdiction
on this, to fi gure out if there is a
law that could legalize them appropriately,
put limits on how they’re used, lower
the speed at which they can go – there is
a physical way to modify the speed and if
we can fi gure out how to do that, for existing
e-bikes, and help e-bike owners to do
that, I’d be very willing to fi gure out a way
to. But the current situation is unacceptable
and is dangerous.”
Marco Conner with Transportation
Alternatives called de Blasio’s broadcast
a “targeted harassment” aimed at
immigrants of meager earnings while citing
NYPD data that show injuries from
e-bikes amount for only a fraction of accidents
citywide.
“Th e inaccuracies he is spreading
are reckless, and frighteningly targeted
at a vulnerable immigrant population,”
Conner said. “Th ey are underpaid and
face untold risk to make well-below minimum
wage salaries. No one has ever been
killed by an e-bike in New York City …
for him to be so swayed by anecdotes in
the face of his own police department’s
data is outright dangerous and inexcusable.”
According to NYPD Motor Vehicle
Collisions data, cited by Conner, there
were 45,775 traffi c incidents resulting
in injury and only 31 involved e-bikes.
Th at same year, 11,115 pedestrians were
injured by cars and trucks; e-bike injured
only about nine.
On May 3, advocates in Corona called
on the de Blasio administration to
back-pedal on a change to the administrative
code in 2017 that allows NYPD
to issue $500 tickets to riders – including
delivery workers – using e-bikes.
Speakers at the rally were Asian and
Hispanic immigrants who required translators
to get their message across, but told
tales of woe through what they believed
Photo: Mark Hallum
was not a far cry from stop-and-frisk or
broken-window policing.
Hoping to guide the issue to favorable
outcome for immigrant delivery workers
are state Senator Jessica Ramos and
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic. A bill introduced
in Albany will establish four new
non-auto vehicle categories: pedal assist
e-bikes, throttle-powered e-bikes, pedal
assist e-bikes and e-scooters.
While the Legal Aid Society is challenging
the city policy of placing fi nes on
e-bike users rather than business, Rozic
and Ramos plan to have their legislation
passed by the end of the next session in
Albany.
with a Little Neck home invasion
earlier this month during which a
34-year-old woman was raped twice and
robbed of cash apparently turned himself
in to police, sources familiar with the
investigation told QNS.
Following an ongoing investigation,
Brooklyn resident Brandon Daniels, 24,
was arrested on May 14. He was charged
with attempted rape, robbery, assault,
burglary, sexual abuse and acting in a
manner injurious to a child.
At this time, the specifi c role in the
incident that Daniels allegedly played is
not yet known. Sources say that Daniels
turned himself in to police custody and
was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court
on May 14. Authorities indicated that he
was linked to the crime through genetic
evidence.
According to police, Daniels was one
of three men involved in a home invasion
on May 4. At 9:31 p.m. that day, the
34-year-old woman was leaving her residence,
located in the vicinity of 251st
Street and 57th Avenue, when two men
approached her, displayed a fi rearm and
forced her back into her house.
Authorities said that seven other people
were in the home when the victim
was forced back inside. Th ey were
detained in one of the bedrooms while
one of the suspects searched for cash.
Th e victim handed over $1,000 in
cash, and one of the suspects sexually
assaulted the victim. Aft er the attack,
police reported, he brought the victim
back downstairs and took another $800
in cash from the woman’s 54-year-old
mother.
Law enforcement sources said the perpetrators
then demanded more money
from victim, who went to another bedroom
and provided $8,000 in cash from
a nightstand. Th e second robber then
sexually assaulted her in that bedroom,
authorities noted.
Th e two home invaders and a third
man, who entered the home shortly aft er
the robbery began, then fl ed the scene
in two separate vehicles, a light-colored,
four-door sedan and a light-colored
Mercedes-Benz E Class series.
Th e criminal complaint provided by
the Queens District Attorney’s offi ce
states that DNA obtained from pieces
of a blue latex glove found at the scene
match Daniels’ DNA.
Daniels is due to return to court on
May 31.
Th e other two suspects remain at large.
Th e investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information about the
case can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-
TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA).
All calls and messages are kept confi -
dential.
Photos and video courtesy of NYPD
A gun-toting suspect involved in a violent May 4 home invasion and rape case in Little Neck
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