Knifed, Hurled Slurs At His Target
A 28-year-old Massachusetts man who made disparaging remarks to two gay men walking in Jackson Heights last August before stabbing one of the men in the arm has pled guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime, it was announced.
He was identified by Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown as Cristian Flores, 28, of Marilyn Street in East Boston, Mass., who pled guilty last Tuesday, May 1, to second degree assault as a hate crime before Queens Supreme Court Justice Steven W. Paynter.
Flores, who has been held in jail in lieu of $25,000 bail since his arrest in August 2011, was ordered to return to court on May 16, at which time Paynter indicated that he would sentence Flores to 3 1/2 years in prison and 2 1/2 years’ post-release supervision.
“Today’s guilty plea ensures that the victim of a crime motivated by hate will receive justice,” Brown said last Tuesday. “[Flores] is expected to be sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison-a term of imprisonment that will 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.”
According to the charges, the 34- year-old male victim was walking with his boyfriend on Roosevelt Avenue between 80th and 81st Streets in Jackson Heights, at approximately 4:10 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2011, when Flores and several unapprehended individuals began following them down the block and shouting anti-gay slurs at them.
Flores and the other individuals then began pushing the 34-year-old man and his boyfriend. At one point, when the victim attempted to come to his friend’s aid, Flores pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim in the right bicep, causing a deep laceration.
As the police approached, Flores ran away and the victim gave chase, eventually tackling him and holding him for the police. The 34-year-old man was then taken to a local Queens hospital where he received seven stitches for his injuries.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph Palazzolo II of the District Attorney’s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Mariela Herring, bureau chief, and Michelle E. Goldstein, deputy bureau chief, and the overall supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials James C. Quinn and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials Robert J. Masters.
