The victim, five months pregnant, went to her car to retrieve her cell phone at approximately midnight on May 23. The car was parked in front of her home near the corner of 157th Avenue and 96th Street. She saw two black women in their 20s walking down the street in her direction. According to statements made to the police, when they got to the car, they threw her to the ground and allegedly kicked her repeatedly and shouted: “What’s your problem, bitch?” The claim of the victim’s mother that her daughter was called a “white bitch,” as was reported in last week’s Queens Chronicle, could not be corroborated.
Her fiance, showering inside after having just returned home from work, could not hear her screams. He only realized what had happened when she stumbled back inside, bloodied. The couple have lived in their Howard Beach home for less than a year.
The attackers stole nothing from the victim, leading authorities to believe that they were gang members carrying out an initiation rite.
The two suspects are both roughly 5 feet 4 inches tall, one with a dark complexion and the other a fairer skinned black woman. The case is currently being reviewed by the 106th Precinct’s Hate Crimes Bureau, police said. The case will either be investigated by the Hate Crimes Bureau or it will continue to be viewed as an assault in which the races of the victim and her attackers played no role.
The victim’s mother reported that her daughter is slowly recovering, but that she has lost a “tremendous” amount of weight because Long Island Jewish Medical Center surgeons had to wire her jaw closed after it was broken in several places. Doctors believe that her unborn child was not injured.
Frank Dardani, the president of the precinct’s community council, said that he has not noticed an increase in concern about violent attacks in the community, despite a slight rise in the number of felony assaults recorded so far this year. The number of burglaries in the precinct this year is almost identical to what was recorded last year to date.
Nikki Siegel, 30, walks between her Cohancy Street home and the QM16 and QM17 bus stop at the corner of Crossbay Boulevard and 157th Avenue in the morning and again between 7:30 and 9 p.m. five days a week. In Howard Beach for seven years, she said that she has never felt any concern when walking alone.
But the attack last month did upset some Howard Beach residents. “It’s scary that you could be in your own neighborhood, just bringing out your garbage, and not know what might happen,” said Donna Deans, a 96th Street resident for 13 years.
Earlier efforts to obtain more information on this case from the police were not successful. The Queens Chronicle will publish more information as it becomes available. Please contact us with your thoughts and concerns and please contact the 106th Precinct with any information about the suspects.
The attackers stole nothing from the victim, leading authorities to believe that they were gang members carrying out an initiation rite.
The two suspects are both roughly 5 feet 4 inches tall, one with a dark complexion and the other a fairer skinned black woman. The case is currently being reviewed by the 106th Precinct’s Hate Crimes Bureau, police said. The case will either be investigated by the Hate Crimes Bureau or it will continue to be viewed as an assault in which the races of the victim and her attackers played no role.
The victim’s mother reported that her daughter is slowly recovering, but that she has lost a “tremendous” amount of weight because Long Island Jewish Medical Center surgeons had to wire her jaw closed after it was broken in several places. Doctors believe that her unborn child was not injured.
Frank Dardani, the president of the precinct’s community council, said that he has not noticed an increase in concern about violent attacks in the community, despite a slight rise in the number of felony assaults recorded so far this year. The number of burglaries in the precinct this year is almost identical to what was recorded last year to date.
Nikki Siegel, 30, walks between her Cohancy Street home and the QM16 and QM17 bus stop at the corner of Crossbay Boulevard and 157th Avenue in the morning and again between 7:30 and 9 p.m. five days a week. In Howard Beach for seven years, she said that she has never felt any concern when walking alone.
But the attack last month did upset some Howard Beach residents. “It’s scary that you could be in your own neighborhood, just bringing out your garbage, and not know what might happen,” said Donna Deans, a 96th Street resident for 13 years.
Earlier efforts to obtain more information on this case from the police were not successful. The Queens Chronicle will publish more information as it becomes available. Please contact us with your thoughts and concerns and please contact the 106th Precinct with any information about the suspects.
