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The Surfside Motel on Cross Bay Boulevard and 165th Avenue in Howard Beach.
By Michael V. Cusenza
A Little Neck man has been sentenced today to 15 years in prison for kidnapping his estranged wife from her place of employment—in full view of stunned onlookers—and for strangling her on a previous date, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday.
In January 2021, Yaspal Persaud, 29, led police on a multi-county, high-speed chase before he was apprehended with the victim at a Howard Beach motel.
Persaud was convicted in August at the close of a bench trial on charges of kidnapping in the second degree, criminal contempt in the first degree, unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the third degree, reckless driving, strangulation in the second degree, menacing in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and obstructing governmental administration in the second degree. On Monday, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years’ post-release supervision.
According to the charges, on the morning of Dec. 24, 2020, officers conducting a wellness check at the Persaud residence in Little Neck learned he had repeatedly choked his wife the previous night when she told him she was leaving him. Persaud was arrested and an order of protection was issued on his estranged wife’s behalf.
File Photo
“We have prosecuted domestic violence cases aggressively and will continue doing so,” DA Katz said.
According to court testimony, on the morning of Jan. 22, 2021, the defendant waited in the parking lot of a CityMD office on Northern Boulevard near 192nd Street where the victim worked and accosted the woman as she arrived. In front of several people and in violation of the order of protection, Persaud confronted the victim as she walked to the front door of her place of employment. Persaud grabbed the victim, pushed her into the backseat of his black Mercedes-Benz and drove away, with a door ajar and the victim’s legs hanging out.
After Persaud had driven around with the victim for several hours, the NYPD’s Technical Assistance Response Unit was able to track his vehicle to a location near the Grand Central Parkway. Persaud then led detectives on a high-speed pursuit and eventually evaded apprehension. TARU detectives later tracked the cell phones of Persaud and the victim to the Surfside Motel on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach, where detectives from the 111th Precinct were able to rescue the victim and arrest Persaud.
“We have prosecuted domestic violence cases aggressively and will continue doing so. Long prison sentences, however, such as the one imposed today, come after the physical harm has been done and the often permanent emotional damage has already been inflicted,” Katz said. “I urge victims of domestic violence who need safety planning services, or help in securing an order of protection or shelter placement, to call us or to contact a Family Justice Center immediately.”
