By Zach Patberg
Danny Williams, 27, allegedly attacked the woman Feb. 5 as she was taking out her garbage at the Fresh Meadows complex, police said. Authorities say she struggled with Williams, who then hit her in the face, dragged her down an exterior stairway and raped her.The complex's general manager, James Buhse, said he was told by 107th Precinct Detective John Hafner and security personnel that Williams was there that night to visit his brother, who Buhse said lives in the complex. Williams, of 147-25 88th Ave., became a suspect after witnesses identified him from a picture provided by investigators, police said.He is also wanted for a homicide back in May 2002, when he and another man allegedly pulled a shotgun on two men in front of 87-72 148 St. in Jamaica, fatally shooting one in the back and seriously wounding the other in the groin, police said.Williams' suspected accomplice, Reginald Artis, then 24, was arrested four months later and arraigned on second-degree murder charges in August 2004, according to the Queens district attorney. He is due back in court April 21 and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the DA said.Police could not say where Williams, described as six feet tall and weighing 200 to 225 pounds, is thought to be or whether he fled the area. Since the rape nearby residents have been on edge and security around the apartments at 188th Street and 69th Avenue has intensified, said Buhse. More security guards were added, he said, as well as a supervisor with Fresh Meadows-based Park Avenue Security who remains in constant contact with the 107th Precinct.”We just want to get him so the tenants can be put to ease,” Buhse said, adding that wanted posters of Williams will be posted throughout the neighborhood this week advertising a $15,000 reward for information.Hearing that the suspect might have also been involved in a murder, civic leader and 107th Precinct Council member James Gallagher said “that girl was very fortunate. I heard he left her for dead.”Gallagher said he expected the issue to be raised at the council's Tuesday meeting.”It's good news that we know who he is,” he said. “It'll be better news when we catch him.”Reach reporter Zach Patberg by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
