Nov. 28, 2012 By Christian Murray
A Woodside man was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a burglary spree that resulted in three police officers and a Queens resident being injured.
William Agosto, 45, of 31-14 69th Street, and his wife Lydia Cordero-Bueno, 43, from Middletown, NY, broke into three houses–one in Elmhurst, another in Woodside and the third in Middle Village.
Richard A. Brown, the Queens District Attorney, announced today that Agosto was sentenced to four years in prison on charges of second-degree attempted burglary and second-degree assault.
Meanwhile, Cordero-Bueno received a conditional discharge earlier this month after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.
According to Brown, the police observed Agosto and Cordero-Bueno driving a white van on August 31st, before Agosto stepped out of the vehicle and approached a residential home located on 54th Ave. in Elmhurst. Agosto then scaled a side fence and entered the rear of the residence before shortly re-emerging from the house and throwing five bags over the fence. His wife was in the van and acted as a lookout.
When police officers attempted to stop the defendants’ in their van at Corona Avenue and 91st Place, Agosto and Cordero-Bueno fled the scene in their vehicle, crashing into three vehicles that were stuck in traffic.
Several blocks later, at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and Ireland Street, the defendants’ van struck an unmarked vehicle occupied by a police officer and sergeant which, in turn, struck a Mercedes Benz due to the impact of Agosto’s van. As a result of the collisions, both police officers and a passenger in the Mercedes suffered injuries.
When a police officer attempted to remove Agosto from the van, the defendant struggled and fought back, causing Officer Jason Petri to suffer a laceration to his leg which required stitches and a dislocated finger, each of which was treated at a local Queens hospital.
At the time of Agosto and Cordero-Bueno’s arrest, police recovered the property belonging to the 54th Avenue homeowner, as well as property from two burglaries that occurred on 64th Street in Woodside and on Juniper Boulevard in Middle Village, earlier in the month. The total value of the recovered property – watches, jewelry, camera equipment and an assortment of electronics – exceeded $15,000.
