Two Fresh Meadows men have been arrested for allegedly shooting at a woman through her kitchen window in an early-morning attack, prosecutors announced Monday.
Alec Bilciu, 21, and Jacob Yagudayev, 22, were charged with first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree reckless endangerment. They were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Jan. 13; bail was set at $150,000 for Yagudayev and $100,000 for Bilciu.
Both men are due to return to court on Jan. 25. If convicted, they both face up to 25 years in prison.
“The defendants are accused of shooting into an apartment and causing serious physical injury to an innocent woman inside,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “The injured victim almost lost her life as a result of the defendants’ alleged reckless actions. The defendants now face the possibility of a lengthy term of incarceration.”
According to the criminal complaint, at 5:45 a.m. on Jan. 12, Bilciu and Yagudayev allegedly showed up to the 20-year-old female victim’s apartment on 163rd Street and repeatedly knocked on the door. The victim’s boyfriend answered the door and recognized Bilciu, whom he knows as “Mike.”
Prosecutors said that Bilcui allegedly then told the boyfriend, in sum and circumstance, “Yo, what’s poppin’,” and then allegedly stepped back to show Yagudayev, who was standing directly behind him.
After seeing both men, the boyfriend immediately shut and locked the apartment door. According to the charges, the defendants then allegedly banged on the door again and ripped off the doorknob.
Law enforcement agents said that Bilciu and Yagudayev then allegedly fired four shots into the apartment through the front door and a side window, striking the victim, who was in bed. The victim was struck in her leg and transported to a local hospital, where she is currently being treated for injuries, including a shattered femur bone.
Charges indicate that Bilciu and Yagudayev had been in a dispute with the victim’s boyfriend prior to this incident.
On Nov. 25, 2018, the defendants allegedly arrived at the victim’s home around 7:30 a.m. and began to bang on and kick the door. The victim’s boyfriend answered at that time too and got into a physical altercation with Yagudayev. Shortly afterward, the boyfriend began receiving threatening phone calls in which someone stated, “I’m going to find you.”
