By Bill Parry
The borough was shocked by three separate crimes in 2018 — among others — one of which happened earlier this month.
A 15-year-old boy was in custody on assault and weapons possession charges for slashing a fellow student at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside Dec. 11, causing a 2 1/2 hour lockdown of the campus that alarmed students, parents and staff alike.
Law enforcement sources said that the attack occurred at about 8:48 a.m., when the 15-year-old suspect confronted the 14-year-old male victim inside of the high school at 57-00 223rd St.
The perpetrator engaged in a verbal dispute with the victim, authorities said, before slashing him in the head with an “unknown sharp weapon.”
The student was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The school promptly went on lockdown as police investigated the assault.
A Flushing woman was indicted following an unprovoked knife attack of three newborns and two adults at a Flushing daycare center in the early morning hours Sept. 21.
The defendant, Yufen Wang, 52, of Cherry Avenue in Flushing, was indicted Nov. 2 with four counts of second-degree attempted murder, four counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault, and one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Wang, who worked as a caregiver, allegedly stabbed a fellow caregiver seven times in the leg, face, and chest as she was feeding an infant at around 3 a.m. in the kitchen of a three-story residence located at 43-67 161st St.
Wang also stabbed the infant who the 63-year-old woman was feeding at the time, before proceeding to harm others in the house, according to Brown.
Meng Xu, 31, a father to one of the children in the center, woke up to the sounds of Wang slashing and stabbing two baby girls.
In his efforts to try and stop the knife-wielding woman, Xu was stabbed in the leg and bitten on the wrist, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
A 22-day-old girl injured during the melee suffered lacerations to her face, chest and ear. A 33-day-old infant girl sustained injuries to her abdomen and back.
The youngest of the victims, just 13 days old, suffered knife wounds to her abdomen, face and chest, Brown said.
If convicted, Wang faces between five and 25 years in prison.
Previously convicted of animal cruelty and hoarding, a Jackson Heights woman found herself in jail once again, this time for assaulting a probation officer visiting her home — and again keeping numerous pets in squalor.
Elizabeth Grant, 50, was convicted in March of this year on 108 counts of animal cruelty and ordered to serve three years’ probation; she was also prohibited from owning any pets for 10 years.
Law enforcement officials had found dozens of neglected cats and dogs in her 82nd Street home back in 2016.
The probation officer wound up seeking treatment at a local hospital for substantial pain.
Grant was arraigned on charges including attempted assault of a peace or police officer; attempted assault as a hate crime; assault; attempted assault; 16 counts of failure to provide proper food and drink to an impounded animal; 16 counts of criminal contempt; and 16 counts of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals.
If convicted of all charges, she faces up to seven years behind bars.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
