A Queens man faces 25 years to life in prison after being convicted on charges stemming from a 2010 afternoon home invasion in a small, quiet Long Island hamlet.
A Nassau County jury found Aadam Yusuf, 30, of South Ozone Park, guilty of first-and-second degree robbery, first degree burglary and fourth degree conspiracy charges for his role in a Nov. 2010 armed home invasion in Woodbury, Long Island, which involved at least two other Queens residents as suspects.
According to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice’s office, Yusuf acted as one of two drivers in a Nov. 19, 2010 home invasion that led to six arrests.
At approximately 1:20 p.m. that day, Randolph Chase, 32, of Brooklyn, knocked on the door of an Orchard Drive home in Woodbury claiming to be a flower delivery man and, upon it opening, pointed a handgun at a 26-year-old woman who lived there. Chase told the woman to lie on the floor before letting three other suspects in, the Nassau DA’s office states.
A 61-year-old woman coming out of the home’s kitchen was led upstairs and bound with duct tape. An 18-year-old female resident was able to hide in an upstairs bathroom and call 911 before being discovered by one of the intruders. The intruders stole a small amount of cash, most of which was recovered.
Police believe that one of the intruders—through it is unclear who—may have had inside knowledge of the home’s residents.
Police responding to the teenager’s 911 call arrested Chase, Glen Campbell, 33, of Richmond Hill and Michael Mohammed, 24, of Brooklyn, shortly there after on the grounds of the Woodbury Country Club. Yusuf and Goutam Persaud,25, of Jamaica, Queens were arrested later that day in a Woodbury Road parking lot. Jose Fuertes, 29, was arrested the next day at his Brooklyn home.
Campbell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years in prison last October. Chase pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 14 years in prison last September. Mohammed and Fuertes each pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Persaud is awaiting trial. The jury rejected the defense’s claims that Yusuf was there but not involved in the robbery.
“People deserve to feel safe in their own homes without worrying that a band of armed thugs is going to barge in and destroy that sense of calm,” Rice said in a statement. “This young woman displayed incredible bravery by contacting the police, and ensured these six defendants’ immediate capture.”
