Ozone Park shootout suspects in custody

Two Ozone Park men are charged with going on a one-hour crime spree in which they shot at a marked police vehicle after they allegedly stole a car, burglarized a house and robbed a woman on the street at gunpoint.
“In less than an hour, the two defendants are accused of committing more than a dozen serious felonies – including the attempted murder of police officers who put their lives and safety at risk as they braved gunfire in an effort to bring the defendants’ crime spree to a halt,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “This case once again underscores the serious and dangerous nature of police work and the sacrifices that our police officers make in serving and protecting our community.”
Urban Fermin, 30, of Liberty Avenue, and Darius Lowery, 22, of 115th Avenue, are presently awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court. They are charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree burglary, first- and second-degree robbery, attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree attempted assault, attempted assault on a police officer, first-degree reckless endangerment, fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and third-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle.
If convicted, the defendants each face up to 25 years to life in state prison.
According to the criminal charges, at 7:35 a.m. on February 2, a 55-year-old St. Albans man left his white 2000 Ford Focus warming up outside his residence. When he returned five minutes later, the vehicle was gone. At 8:10 a.m. that same morning, according to the DA, a 72-year-old South Ozone Park woman opened the front door of her home and was confronted by two black males wearing masks and dark clothing.
The men allegedly told her, “This is a robbery, move in!” Once inside the residence, the men – one displayed a black pistol and the other a revolver – ordered the woman’s 40-year-old daughter to get on the floor before eventually having the two women sit on the sofa. One of the men then allegedly stayed with the women while the other ransacked the residence – taking the batteries from the telephone and removing cash, a digital camera, assorted jewelry, a Nintendo Wii gaming console and a Westinghouse flat screen television – before fleeing in a white vehicle.
At nearly 8:30 a.m., one of the suspects demanded that a 35-year-old South Ozone Park woman walking along 128th Street give him her pocketbook. He then allegedly ripped the purse from her and began to return to their vehicle before stopping and again confronting the victim, this time stating, “No, give me everything.” He began rummaging through her pockets, taking her credit card, driver’s license, cell phone and cash before returning to the car, which was being driven by Fermin, according to the DA.
An eyewitness who had observed part of the street robbery and saw the two men fleeing in a white Ford Focus followed them until a marked police vehicle – with its lights and sirens activated – attempted to pull the Ford over. Lowery allegedly opened the side door of the moving car and fired at least two rounds of ammunition at the cops.
Shortly thereafter, the Ford Focus was allegedly found abandoned at the intersection of 199th Avenue and 153rd Street with a Westinghouse flat screen television and a Nintendo Wii gaming console in the rear of the vehicle. Nearby, police allegedly recovered a black hooded sweatshirt, a black jacket, two hats and a facemask. A block away, police also recovered a black 9mm pistol containing one live round of ammunition in the chamber and three live rounds in the magazine.