By Kelsey Durham
A North Carolina man has been convicted in the 2010 robberies of several Queens fast-food restaurants as well as the attempted murder of a cab driver during the seven-month crime spree, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
The DA’s office announced Feb. 6 that Shawn Peace, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., was found guilty of assault, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon for robbing five fast-food locations spanning from Glen Oaks to Jamaica between July and November 2010.
He was also convicted of second-degree attempted murder in the December 2010 shooting of a livery cab driver.
Authorities said that on Dec. 3, 2010, Peace walked to the office of Big D’s Royal Cab Service in Jamaica around 8:50 p.m. and asked to be taken to an address on a dead-end street in South Ozone Park. When the car reached the location, a struggle broke out between Peace and the driver, and Peace shot the driver four times in the neck and limbs before running from the scene, according to the DA’s office.
Police soon found the driver still in his vehicle after responding to a 911 call, the DA’s office said, and he was taken to the hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds to his hand, neck and both legs.
Peace was also convicted of shooting a fast-food worker in the hand during the Aug. 19, 2010, robbery of a Popeye’s on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Rosedale.
“The defendant stands convicted of committing a series of serious felonies, including the attempted murder of a livery cab driver and the shooting of a fast-food restaurant employee, during a string of armed robberies,” Brown said. “He has proven himself to be a menace to others and deserves the maximum sentence allowed by law.”
Peace is set to be sentenced March 26 in Queens County Supreme Court and faces more than 25 years in prison, according to the DA.
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
