FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com JULY 14, 2016 • THE COURIER SUN 3 Contractor faces prison time for hustling big money from Queens residents Woman killed after being caught in middle of a police pursuit in Cambria Heights By Charlie Per y cperry@qns.com/@QNS An early afternoon police pursuit through the streets of Cambria Heights on July 7 left a 78-year-old woman dead and another individual injured. According to police, 50-yearold, Derrick Perkins of Queens, was fleeing 105th Precinct officers inside a gray BMW SUV when he collided with a green Saturn sedan operated by the victim at the intersection of 225th Street and Linden Boulevard at 12:49 p.m. on July 7. “I heard a big bang and a crash,” Yvonne Gardener, owner of Yvonne’s Beauty Salon at 224-09 Linden Blvd., told the New York Post. “I ran out and saw the cops hitting the window with their guns. They were banging on the windows of the jeep trying to break the glass, hitting his side windows, yelling, ‘Get out! Get out.’” Police responded to a 911 call of a grand larceny in progress in front of 216-19 Hempstead Avenue. Cops put out a description of the suspect and what he was driving over the radio. Shortly after officers in an unmarked police vehicle spotted the suspect at 116 Avenue and 225 Street. The police attempted to pull the driver over. He hit the unmarked cop car and drove off south on 225 street. A chase ensued as cops followed the suspect to the intersection of 225th and Linden Boulevard, sirens blaring and lights flashing. Perkins ran a red light and hit the Saturn sedan traveling eastbound on Linden Boulevard. The suspect fled on foot following the crash and was soon caught by police after a brief struggle. The driver of the green Saturn sedan, 78-year-old Roxina Clayton of Queens, was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS units. Additionally a 29 year-old man who was at the intersection at the time of the crash was driven to North Shore University Hospital and was treated for a leg injury. Perkins was taken into custody by police and charges are pending. By Charlie Per y cperry@qns.com/@QNS A 49-year-old Long Island contractor was nailed on grand larceny and other charges for home improvement scams that fleeced Queens and Long Island residents out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Derrick Burrell (also known as James Gray), of Saint Marks Avenue in Rockville Centre, who worked for “A Team Property Services,” pleaded guilty on July 5 to two counts of seconddegree grand larceny and two counts of first-degree scheme to defraud. He will be sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison by the Queens Supreme Court on July 20. “He has accepted responsibility to bring closure to his family and the families of those affected,” Jason Russo, who is the attorney for Burrell, told The Courier on July 7. According to court documents, 11 Queens and Long Island residents contracted Burrell to do demolition, renovation or construction on their properties between February 2009 and July 2015. He accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in payment. Burrell either never completed the contracted projects or skipped out on the work entirely. One Queens resident, who is confined to a wheelchair, had her kitchen completely demolished for nearly a year. She was forced to prepare her meals in the microwave or on a hotplate because her kitchen was never rebuilt, according to a press release issued by the DA’s office on July 5. Russo also told The Courier that the District Attorney’s office was seeking a higher sentence of two to six years in this case. The judge told Burrell if he took responsibility for his actions he would hand down a lighter sentence. Burrell is looking at serving his time in a minimum security prison upstate. “Defective or incomplete home improvement repairs are among the top consumers’ complaints to my office,” District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in the press release. “To avoid being a victim of a home repair scheme, consumers should request and actually check a contractor’s references and check with the proper agencies to ensure the person they are hiring is indeed licensed.” Photo via Facebook/Robert Stridiron
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