File Photo
Kalif White was shot at the Surfside Motel in Howard Beach in September 2021.
By Forum Staff
A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for injuring a man he shot at the Surfside Motel in Howard Beach in September 2021, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday.
Rawle Washington, 28, was found guilty by a jury in March of attempted assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon. Queens Supreme Court Justice Stephanie Zaro last Wednesday sentenced Washington to 12 years in prison.
According to the charges:
File Photo
Kalif White was shot at the Surfside Motel in Howard Beach in September 2021.
On Sept. 18, 2021, shortly after 10 a.m., police responded to reports of a shooting at the Surfside Motel on Cross Bay Boulevard. The victim, 29-year-old Kalif White, was lying on the ground in front of the motel entrance bleeding with gunshot wounds to the buttocks and leg.
Washington was seen on video surveillance in a baseball cap, light-colored shirt and dark pants in the motel lobby just after 5 a.m. and later that morning, around 10 a.m. The second time, Washington ran after the victim, pointed a gun in his direction and fired several times. Immediately after the shots rang out, the defendant turned and ran toward the rear of the motel.
Further video evidence showed Washington tossing the gun into the Shell Bank Basin adjacent to the motel. Police recovered the weapon as well as a light-colored shirt and the baseball cap near the scene.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner tested both the baseball cap and the shirt and later confirmed a match to Washington’s DNA. He was arrested on Jan. 18, 2022, after a lengthy investigation into his whereabouts.
“DNA evidence was instrumental in identifying the defendant after he callously shot a man and fled,” Katz said. “Today he faces accountability for his reckless actions.”
