|
05
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES AND POLICE COMMISSIONER RAYMOND W.
KELLY ANNOUNCES FIVE INDICTMENTS IN
THE FATAL SHOOTING OF
POLICE OFFICER PETER J. FIGOSKI
Brooklyn, December
20, 2011—Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today announce five
indictments for the fatal shooting of Police Officer Peter
J. Figoski, 47, a 22-year veteran of the 75th
Precinct.
At approximately 2:15 am on December 12, 2011,
Officers Peter J. Figoski and his partner were responding to
a robbery in the Cypress Hills section of
Brooklyn.
According to the indictment, Lamont Pride, 27, while
trying to escape, shot Officer Figoski in the face. Officer
Figoski
died five hours later at
Jamaica
Hospital
Medical
Center. Pride was
indicted for Murder in the First Degree, Aggravated Murder,
Murder in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a
weapon in the Second Degree. If convicted, he faces life in
prison without parole.
According to the indictment, four others participated
in the robbery with Pride.
Kevin Santos, 30; Ariel Tejada, 22; Nelson Moralez,
27, and Michael Velez, 21, are charged with Murder in the
Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the
Second Degree.
If convicted, they face 25 years to life in prison.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not
proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by Kenneth Taub, Chief
of the Homicide Division, and Assistant District Attorney
Howard Jackson.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
(718) 250-2300
03
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES THE INDICTMENT
OF ELEVATOR REPAIRMAN FOR RECKLESS ASSAULT
VICTIM SUFFERS MULTIPLE COMPOUND FRACTURES TRAPPED
IN MOVING
ELEVATOR ON CHRISTMAS DAY
Brooklyn, December
15, 2011—Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
today announced the indictment of Jason Jordan, 27, charged
with recklessly conducting an elevator repair at SUNY
Downstate Medical Center, in such a way that a woman caught
in the closing doors suffered multiple compound fractures of
her arm and leg.
“Everyone’s worst nightmare is to be trapped by a
moving elevator, and due to Jordan’s depravity, this victim
lived that nightmare on Christmas Day, as she watched her
arm and leg get crushed and torn apart,” said District
Attorney Hynes. “I will do all I can to see
Jordan
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Charges against
Jordan
include Assault in the First Degree and Reckless
Endangerment in the First Degree. If convicted he faces up
to 25 years in prison.
On December 25, 2010,
Jordan was called to
Downstate Hospital to repair an elevator. As part
of his repair, he disregarded industry standards and
disabled the safety switch that prevents the elevator from
moving when the doors are open, according to the indictment.
He neither employed an assistant to make sure no one boarded
the elevator nor posted any signs or notices that the
elevator was out of service, according to the indictment.
The indictment charges that while Jordan was
conducting the negligent repair, a 47-year-old woman and her
daughter arrived in the hospital lobby on the way to visit a
patient. When the woman entered the elevator, it began
moving with its doors open, trapping her left arm and leg
between the elevator and the landing, according to the
indictment. Her screams echoed throughout the hospital as
the elevator traveled up seven flights, crushing her arm and
leg against each floor and causing multiple compound
fractures and massive blood loss. When the elevator finally
stopped on the eighth floor, the victim was lying on the
floor of the car, trapped between it and the landing.
An indictment is an accusatory
instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by
Rackets Division Bureau Chief Lawrence Oh. Michael Vecchione
is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
(718) 250-2300
02
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J.
HYNES ANNOUNCES
72 YEAR SENTENCE IN RAPE OF 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Brooklyn, December
14, 2011—Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announces the
sentencing of Gerald Hatcher, 47, to 72 years in prison for
raping his girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter multiple times
between October and November, 2008.
He was convicted on August 18 of Rape in the First
Degree before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen
Riviezzo.
During the time of the incidents, Hatcher was living
with his girlfriend and her daughter in their
Bedford-Stuyvesant home.
While the victim’s mother was at work, the defendant
would enter the victim’s room and rape her.
The case came to light when an
anonymous caller contacted ACS who then alerted police.
Hatcher was arrested on January 30, 2009.
The case was prosecuted by Elizabeth Doerfler, Deputy
Bureau Chief in the Sex Crimes Bureau and Assistant District
Attorney Bridget Brodzinski from the Sex Crimes Bureau.
Rhonnie Jaus is Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
(718) 250-2300
01
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES AND
NEW YORK CITY HUMAN RESOURCE ADMINISTRATOR ROBERT DOAR
ANNOUNCE INDICTMENT OF DOCTOR AND HIS WIFE FOR ILLEGALLY
COLLECTING MEDICAID AND LYING ON APPLICATIONS
Brooklyn, December 1, 2011—Kings County District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes and New York City Human
Resource Commissioner Robert Doar today announced the
indictment of a Brooklyn doctor and his wife on charges
they falsified Medicaid applications so the wife could
illegally qualify for Medicaid health coverage.
“New York taxpayers fund Medicaid to help low-income
families get necessary medical treatments, not to
provide health insurance to wealthy individuals who
would rather not pay for their own coverage,” said
District Attorney Hynes. “I would like to thank
Commissioner Doar and HRA for their help in this
investigation and in our ongoing effort to stem the
abuse of important programs like Medicaid.”
“Let
this be a warning: Lying in order to receive Medicaid is
a theft of taxpayer dollars and those who engage in this
behavior will be investigated and prosecuted to the
fullest extent of the law,” said Commissioner Doar. “I
want to thank District Attorney Hynes and his team for
their continual commitment to work with our Agency to
ensure the integrity of our public assistance programs.”
The case originated with information from the Office
of Medicaid Inspector General who passed it on to HRA
which began an investigation.
The indictment
charges that in October 2008 Oksana Shulim, 44, claimed,
on a Medicaid application, to have no income and that
she was supported by Pavel Kulik, 44, whom she
identified as a “friend”, not her husband. On
accompanying paperwork, Kulik asserted that he was
Shulim’s “friend” and that he paid for her housing and
meals but did not provide her with health insurance,
according to the indictment. The indictment charges that
since 2008, Medicaid paid out more than $8,500 in
claims, to treat Shulim.
The truth is that Kulik
and Shulim have been married since 1998; have two
children, ages five and 11; live in a penthouse
apartment in a gated community in Brighton Beach; and
have a joint savings account with a balance of more than
$450,000, according to the indictment. Kulik is a doctor
of internal medicine, with a practice in Sheepshead Bay.
Since 2009, Medicaid has paid Kulik’s practice more than
$1 million for treatments he provided to Medicaid
recipients.
The defendants are charged with
Welfare Fraud in the Third Degree, Welfare Fraud in the
Fourth Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Grand
Larceny in the Fourth Degree and Offering a False
Instrument for Filing in the First Degree. If convicted
they face up to seven years in prison.
Additionally, if he is convicted, Kulik could be removed
from the Medicaid program and could also lose his
license to practice medicine.
The defendants were
arraigned on November 30, 2011, before Brooklyn Supreme
Court Justice Suzanne Mondo, and released on their own
recognizance. The next scheduled court date is December
20.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument
and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case
was investigated by the Human Resources Administration
Bureau of Fraud Investigation and is being prosecuted by
Assistant District Attorney Heidi Bausk. Lauren Mack is
Chief of the Public Assistance Crimes Bureau.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
(718) 250-2300
|
