By Michael V. Cusenza
The Queens DA’s Office and City Police Department on Friday confiscated two-dozen scooters outside a borough migrant shelter.
While DA Melinda Katz did not reveal the exact location of last week’s operation, Queens Media NYC, which posts to social media via the account @ViralNewsNYC, reported that it occurred near a migrant shelter. Queens Media NYC was on site, recording footage of cops and DA investigators taking illicit scooters and loading them into a box truck in front of a large group of people. The video was posted to Twitter on Monday.
“Illegal scooters ridden by migrants have become the primary mode of transportation to commit crimes,” City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) commented on Twitter. “This is what happens when law enforcement works together for the protection of their citizens.”
Photo Courtesy of DA Katz
Cops and DA investigators on Friday take scooters into custody.
Katz noted that that her continued seizure operation has resulted in more than 500 scooters being removed from borough streets since February.
The use of an illegal scooter to commit a crime garnered headlines last year when a Brooklyn man was charged in a 14-count indictment after allegedly randomly firing from a motorbike at pedestrians and a fellow motorist during a shooting spree in Queens that left an 86-year-old man dead and two others wounded.
According to the charges, on July 8, 2023, at approximately 11:26 a.m., Thomas Abreu was seen on video surveillance cameras and by an eyewitness on 108th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill riding a scooter and wearing a green shirt and with a fanny pack on his shoulder. He approached Hamod Saeidi, 86, and shot him in the back. Saeidi was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
At approximately the same time and at the same location, Abreu, 26, still riding a scooter, fired at two pedestrians, one walking a dog on the sidewalk and at another crossing the street. Neither was struck. Moments later, video surveillance showed Abreu on 126th Street and Hillside Avenue. He pulled up his scooter next to a parked minivan and shot the driver at close range once in the head. The victim was taken to a hospital and survived.
Photo Courtesy of DA Katz
DA Katz’s crackdown on scooters has netted more than 500 illegal motorbikes this year alone.
Abreu was observed on video surveillance riding his scooter on 134th Street and Jamaica Avenue. He approached a pedestrian crossing the street and shot the victim in the shoulder. The victim was treated at a local hospital and released.
At approximately 1 p.m., Abreu was arrested after NYPD officers saw him at Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue riding his scooter. Police recovered a loaded pistol with an extended magazine, as well as a fanny pack containing additional ammunition.
