Bk. Man Guilty Of Murder On L.I.C. Street
A Brooklyn man formerly employed by a livery cab service based in Long Island City was convicted last week of murdering a colleague during a botched robbery attempt in January 2010, law enforcement sources said.
Gregory Johnson, 36, of Quincy Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant was found guilty last Monday night, June 3, of second-degree murder, first- and second-degree attempted robbery, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence for the shooting death of 62-year-old Jaroslaw Bielawski of Java Street in Greenpoint.
Prosecutors said Johnson killed Bielawski while he and an alleged accomplice- Auther D. Lattan, 25, of Ocean Avenue in Prospect Park South, who is currently awaiting trial-attempted to rob the victim and the owner of Crosslands Corporate Transportation on the night of Jan. 8, 2010 outside the company’s headquarters on 11th Street.
As previously reported, Johnson and Lattan were collared by detec- tives four months later after crime scene investigators found the suspects’ DNA on gloves and masks that were left near the crime scene.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Daniel Lewis, who presided over the three-week trial, scheduled sentencing for Johnson to take place on July 2. Johnson faces up to 25 years to life behind bars, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
“[Bielawski] was a hard-working New Yorker. His death was senseless and shocking, motivated by the basest of emotions-greed-and committed by a colleague,” Brown said. “Thanks to the diligence of police officers and prosecutors in pursuing this case, [Johnson] has now been held accountable for his crime and justifiably faces a lengthy time behind bars.”
Law enforcement sources said the robbery occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 8 outside Crosslands’ headquarters at 35-44 11th Street in the Ravenswood section of Long Island City. Reportedly, Johnson, Lattan and Bielawski all were employed by the livery cab company.
According to trial testimony, Johnson-who had been on a leave of absence from Crosslands-and Lattan donned ski masks and gloves and approached a cab driven by Bielawski with the company’s owner sitting in the passenger seat.
When Johnson allegedly motioned for Bielawski to roll down the driver’s side window during the robbery attempt, prosecutors said, the victim made an attempt to drive off. As he did so, authorities noted, Johnson pulled out a handgun and fired three shots at Bielawski, the first of which struck the Greenpoint man in the head.
Following the shooting, it was reported,
Johnson and Lattan fled from the scene in different directions. As they did so, authorities said, they dropped the ski masks and gloves which they allegedly wore.
Members of the 114th Precinct and EMS units responded to the scene. Bielawski was transported to Cornell Medical Center, where he died the following morning from his injuries.
During their preliminary investigation of the crime scene, as previously reported, police recovered the ski masks and gloves and conducted genetic testing. Evidence found on the items reportedly matched the DNA of both Johnson-who had returned to work two weeks after the murder-and Lattan.
The two Brooklyn men were questioned and subsequently arrested in April 2010 by the 114th Precinct Detective Squad, which conducted the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Patrick L. O’Connor of the DA’s Homicide Trials Bureau, which is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Brad A. Leventhal, bureau chief, and Jack Warsawsky, deputy bureau chief.
