By Rebecca Henely
A 28-year-old Boston man pleaded guilty to committing a hate crime last week after stabbing a gay man in Jackson Heights who was walking down the street with his boyfriend last year, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Cristian Flores, who has been held in jail on a $25,000 bail since he was taken into custody, faces 3 1/2 years in prison at his sentencing for the discriminatory assault, the District Attorney Richard Brown said.
“Today’s guilty plea ensures that the victim of a crime motivated by hate will receive justice,” Brown said in a statement.
Flores attacked Carlos Aleman, 34, who had been walking at night on Roosevelt Avenue between 80th and 81st streets in Jackson Heights with his boyfriend at 4:10 a.m. Aug. 21, the DA said. Flanked by several others who had not been arrested as of press time, Flores followed the two men while yelling anti-gay slurs, the DA said.
Flores and the others then started to push Aleman and his boyfriend around, the DA said. Aleman tried to help his boyfriend, but Flores took out a knife and stabbed Aleman in his right arm, the DA said.
When NYPD officers responded to the assault, Flores fled, the DA said. Despite his injury, Aleman subdued Flores so the police could take him away, the DA said.
The laceration to Aleman’s bicep was deep and required seven stitches at a hospital in the borough, the DA said.
Flores pleaded to assault as a hate crime in Queens Supreme Court May 2 before Justice Steven Paynter, the DA said. Paynter suggested he would sentence Flores to 3 1/2 years in prison as well as two years and six months of supervision after he is released, the DA said.
Brown said the expected sentence would “serve as both a punishment for his actions and a deterrent to those who would commit hate crimes whether they be motivated by gender, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity.”
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
