Police on Thursday executed a court-authorized search warrant at this Woodhaven building. Forum Photo by Robert Stridiron
A Woodhaven man on Thursday was arrested and arraigned on drug, child endangerment and other charges for selling marijuana and other drugs out of the basement of his family’s residence—which also operates as a family daycare center and is less than 1,500 feet from two Catholic elementary schools, according to police and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Michael Gomez, 24, who lives in the same 88th Avenue building in which My Precious Moments, a group family daycare facility operated by his mother, is located, was arraigned on a criminal complaint charging him with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia, fourth-degree criminal possession of marihuana, fourth-degree criminal sale of marijuana and endangering the welfare of a child.
Selestino Rodriguez, 23, of Ridgewood, identified by Brown as an acquaintance of Gomez, was also arrested at the location on Thursday and arraigned on a criminal complaint charging him with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia, fourth-degree criminal possession of marijuana and endangering the welfare of a child.
Gomez was ordered held on $20,000 bail pending a bail sufficiency hearing, and Rodriguez was released on his own recognizance.
According to a police spokeswoman, cops with the Queens Narcotics squad executed a search warrant shortly after 5 a.m. on Thursday at the 88th Avenue residence and found Gomez and Rodriguez sleeping in the basement. Brown said that Gomez allegedly told officers that the drugs were in a black bag on a shelf in the basement bedroom closet and that the weed was on the floor in a box. From the closet shelf police allegedly recovered a total of more than seven ounces of MDMA, or “Molly,” a quantity of marijuana and $2,438 in cash, as well as empty zip lock bags and a scale containing marijuana. From the box on the closet floor, police allegedly recovered three bags of marijuana weighing more than two ounces.
Gomez allegedly made drug sales to undercover cops on two occasions, including once near the front door as parents were picking up their children from the daycare facility, which is less than 1,500 feet from St. Elizabeth Catholic Academy on 85th Street and St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Academy on 87th Street. Both schools serve students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.
Brown said, “These arrests should serve as a warning to other drug dealers that the law enforcement community will continue to aggressively track down those individuals who traffic in drugs and seek to put them in prison.”
