By Nathan Duke
A 52-year-old Ridgewood mother with health problems will return to court in June after she was accused by the Queens district attorney of breaking into the home of her underage daughter's adult boyfriend last year and striking a neighbor repeatedly with her cane. But her attorney said she was only attempting to protect her daughter.
Sallee Hannon was charged with assault, burglary, criminal mischief, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon in the Nov. 27, 2007 incident and will return to court on June 19, a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown said. She could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted, she said.
But Michael Josephson, Hannon's attorney, said she had been attempting to halt her 15-year-old daughter's sexual relationship with 19-year-old neighbor Steven Marrero.
“The woman couldn't hurt a fly,” Josephson said of Hannon, who suffers from heart and kidney problems and walks with a cane. “She went to the house because she didn't think her daughter, notwithstanding how much she may have been enamored with this guy, should be sexually active at [15].”
He said Hannon had not intended to burgle the home and that the night she spent in jail was unwarranted.
“I feel the DA and the police mishandled this thing,” he said. “This case isn't going anywhere. I don't think a court in the world would be able to justify that a crime was committed.”
Hannon was arraigned in November and released without bail, a DA spokeswoman said.
According to the criminal complaint, Elizabeth Cordero, Marrero's mother, left her Ridgewood apartment for work on Nov. 27, leaving her son at home. Neighbor Carlos Sanchez told police he heard Cordero's door being forced open around 2 p.m. and heard loud noises coming from the apartment, the DA said.
Sanchez saw Hannon leave Cordero's apartment with her daughter and heard the defendant tell her son to pursue Marrero, who had fled through a back window, according to the complaint.
Sanchez went downstairs to collect his mail and was confronted by Hannon, who told him to go back upstairs and said, “You are a witness to this,” the DA said. Hannon allegedly grabbed Sanchez by his shirt and struck him repeatedly in the ribs with her cane, the DA said.
Cordero later returned to her apartment to find dents and holes in her wall as well as a broken television and damaged stereo system, the DA said.
A source familiar with the case said Hannon had been offered a chance earlier this year to plead guilty to disorderly conduct, a violation, and pay $300 for damages in Cordero's apartment rather than face charges brought against her.
Marrero was arrested on charges of sexual misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child, the DA spokeswoman said. But his charges will be dismissed if he is not arrested before his next court date on July 29, she said.
But Josephson said Cordero sent a letter to Hannon, in which she said she did not plan to pursue charges against the defendant.
