A Little Neck man was found guilty of kidnapping his estranged wife and evading police on a high-speed chase last year, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Yaspal Persaud, 28, was convicted by a jury on Aug. 4 following a nine-day trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky on charges of kidnapping, strangulation, criminal contempt, and harassment.
According to the charges, on the morning of Dec. 24, 2020, police conducted a wellness check at the Persaud home on 58th Avenue in Little Neck upon the request of the mother of the victim, who is his estranged wife. Officers arrested Persaud when they learned he had repeatedly strangled the victim the previous night when she told him she was leaving him. In addition to his arrest, an order of protection was issued on his estranged wife’s behalf.
On the morning of Jan. 22, 2022, Persaud waited in the parking lot of a CityMD office on Northern Boulevard near 192nd Street in Little Neck, where the victim worked and stopped her as she arrived. In front of several people waiting to enter the medical office, Persaud confronted the victim as she walked to the front door with her office key. In violation of a prior order of protection, the defendant grabbed the victim and pushed her into his vehicle. The defendant pushed her into the backseat of his car and then attempted to close the door while the victim repeatedly kicked it open. Persaud drove off with the victim’s legs hanging out the car door that was still ajar.
According to court testimony, Persaud drove around in his black Mercedes-Benz for several hours with the victim in his car. The NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit (TARU) was able to track the vehicle near the Grand Central Parkway at approximately noon. The defendant led the detectives on a high-speed pursuit and eventually evaded capture.
According to the testimony, the defendant then ditched the Mercedes-Benz and had a friend drive him and the victim to the Surfside Motel on Cross Bay Boulevard and 165th Avenue. TARU detectives tracked the cellphones of the defendant and the victim to the Howard Beach motel and detectives from the 111th Precinct in Bayside moved in to rescue the victim and place Persaud in custody.
“The defendant’s criminal actions made his estranged wife fear for her life as she was forcibly dragged from her place of business and taken to a motel against her will, despite having an order of protection in effect against her husband — which was issued a month earlier at our request after he strangled her and caused her to pass out at least three times in their Little Neck home,” Katz said. “Domestic violence is not acceptable in any form. And my office will continue to hold accountable those who choose to inflict physical harm and mental trauma on their intimate partners. A jury has now found this defendant guilty of serious crimes and he faces significant prison time at sentencing.”
Justice Yavinsky ordered Persaud to return to court on Sept. 15. Persaud faces up to 32 years in prison at sentencing.
