Days after a teen was beaten to death following a Woodhaven party, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has spoken out to “condemn this violent act of intolerance and ignorance.”
According to published reports, Anthony Collao, 18, was beaten to death by four teens who yelled anti-gay slurs during the attack.
“Though the victim was not a member of the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] community, several members of the party were, and they were targeted solely for that reason,” said Assemblymember Mike Miller.
“Over the past several years in Queens, we have seen senseless attacks on the LGBT community from Jackson Heights to Woodhaven. It is a shame, it is unacceptable, and it needs to end now. My heart goes out to the victim and his loved ones. It is time we stand up against hate.”
A criminal complaint says that Nolis Ogando, 17, Luis Tabales, 17, Alex Velez, 16, and Christopher Lozada, 17, essentially crashed a party at 87th Avenue and 90th Street on Saturday, March 12. They stood outside the reportedly abandoned house, yelling “Get . . . out of the front, this is my hood.”
A fifth suspect Calvin Pietri, 17, has also been arrested and the DA’s office confirmed he is awaiting arraignment.
The district attorney said the four then chased Collao to a location on 90th Street, between 88th and 89th Avenue. The witness told the DA that Ogando was carrying a cane and Velez was holding what appeared to be a chrome bat.
A second victim told the DA that the group of now five caught up with Collao, “threw him against a car and began to punch, kick and strike him with an object that appeared to be a stick.”
About 15 minutes after the beating, cops arrested the four suspects. Lozada was taken into custody wearing the victim’s Atlanta Braves baseball cap, with his clothes covered in blood. Officers recovered a metal pipe smeared with blood near the fatal scene.
Collao was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he was on life support. He died on Monday, March 14.
“I was truly saddened to hear about the fatal attack in my district over the weekend,” said City Councilmember Eric Ulrich. “My prayers go out to the young victim’s family and friends.”
The four suspects face charges of gang assault in the first degree, manslaughter in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
Ogando was arraigned on $100,000 bail; Tabales on $200,000; Velez on $100,000 and Lozada on $150,000.
Lawyers for the suspects could not be reached as of press time.
“The Council is in communication with the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit about this incident and we thank the NYPD for their swift action making four arrests over the weekend,” said Quinn. “I am confident that law enforcement officials will aggressively prosecute those responsible for this hateful act. We are urging anyone who witnessed this attack or who has any information about the perpetrators of this hate crime to come forward with any information to the authorities and the anonymous hotline 1-800-577-TIPS.”
