A band of thugs, allegedly from a failed Assembly hopeful’s campaign team, were arrested and charged with kidnapping and beating up a man who may have owed them money — just two days after a fruitless primary night, a police source said.
The five raging ruffians — Hyun Lee of Whitestone, Young Choi of Fresh Meadows, Kug Kim of Plainview, Long Island, Yung Chung of Flushing and Hye Chung — face charges of second-degree unlawful imprisonment and second-degree harassment after they allegedly cornered a man identified as Don Kim in a Flushing building, attacked, robbed and shoved him into a car before driving off, according to criminal complaints.
Sources say the five men are tied to the campaign of Korean newspaper owner Myungsuk Lee, who recently lost his Democratic bid for the 40th Assembly District, but that could not be confirmed and their names were not listed in financial disclosure reports.
Myungsuk Lee, who was not criminally accused of any wrongdoing, did not return calls for comment to deny or confirm the accusations.
Don Kim was trying to exit a Flushing residence, located at 34-25 149th Street, on Sunday, September 15 at around 1 p.m. when Hyun Lee, Choi and Yung Chung ganged up and blocked him from leaving, according to the district attorney’s office.
“You can’t go anywhere. You can’t leave,” Hyun Lee, 38, allegedly said to Don Kim before asking him to cough up the money he owed the group, court records show.
Choi, 64, and Yung Chung, 56, then apparently grabbed the victim’s arms and restrained him, while Hye Chung entered the building, punched him in the face and yanked an undisclosed amount of money from his hand, according to the criminal complaint. The bandits then allegedly grabbed the victim by his shirt, punched him in the torso and threw him into the rear passenger seat of a 2003 Infinity before Kug Kim, 41, drove him down three blocks.
“I’m bringing you to my boys to teach you a lesson,” Hye Chung allegedly said, according to the criminal complaint.
It is unclear what transpired after this point, but police say Don Kim suffered bruising and swelling to the right side of his face and a cut to the lower lip.
The perps were arraigned in Queens County Criminal Court the following day. They are each due back in court on October 30.
Hyun Lee could do additional time for petit larceny, according to the district attorney’s office.
