Hit Man With Slur & Stun Gun
A Bushwick man could spend the next three years behind bars after admitting in court last Wednesday, May 28, to zapping a man with a stun gun and hurling an anti-gay remark at him in Ridgewood more than two years ago, prosecutors announced.
Joseph Desmond, 25, of Eldert Street in Bushwick pled guilty to a third-degree charge of assault as a hate crime before Acting Supreme Court Justice Barry Kron. The judge indicated he would order Desmond at his July 23 sentencing hearing to serve between one and three years in prison and five years’ probation.
“[Desmond’s] guilty plea ensures that the victim of a crime motivated by hate will receive justice,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement last Thursday, May 29. “Hate crimes-whether motivated by sexual orientation, gender, religious or ethnic bias-will never be tolerated in Queens County.”
Law enforcement sources said the assault occurred at 8:10 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2012 at the corner of Gates and Fairview avenues.
Reportedly, Desmond approached the then-23-year-old male victim, shouted an anti-gay slur and then shocked him with a stun gun. Following the attack, he fled from the scene.
Officers from the 104th Precinct responded to a report of the assault; the victim suffered chest pains.
During a search, police located Desmond later that evening in the courtyard of a nearby building. He was taken into custody on assault charges. The following month, a grand jury indicted Desmond for assault as a hate crime.
Assistant DistrictAttorney Joseph T. Palazzolo II of the DA’s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau led the prosecution under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Mariela Palomino Herring, bureau chief, and Michelle E. Goldstein, deputy bureau chief.
