QNS covered a variety of news stories in August, with the top stories centered around crime.
Take a look back at our most viewed stories of August:
Whitestone man busted with arsenal of ghost guns, other firearms at his home: DA
A Whitestone man was arrested, and a huge arsenal of weapons and ammunition were recovered during a raid at his home, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Monday, Aug. 22.
Joseph A. Maddaloni Sr., 55, was arraigned Aug. 19 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Diego Friere on a 140-count complaint charging him with criminal possession of a weapon and a slew of other crimes following a long-term investigation by the DA’s office.
Members of the DA’s Detective Bureau executed a court-authorized search warrant at Maddolini’s home on 25th Avenue on Thursday, Aug.18, and recovered a total of 42 illegal firearms, including 15 fully assembled ghost gun semi-automatic pistols; 23 commercially manufactured weapons, including semi-automatic pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles; two AR-15 ghost gun assault-style rifles, one of which was a fully automatic machine gun; two commercially manufactured AR-15 assault rifles; two silencers; 33 high-capacity magazines; thousands of rounds of ammunition; and approximately $21,600 in cash, according to the DA’s office.
Thieves make off with BMW, $7,000 in cash during southeast Queens gunpoint robbery
Police from the 113th Precinct in Jamaica are looking for two thieves who allegedly robbed a man at gunpoint and then used his credit card to make purchases at a Brooklyn bodega early Monday morning, Aug. 1.
The incident began at around 2:30 a.m. when a man and a woman walked up to a 23-year-old man who had just parked his 2020 BMW in the confines of the 113th Precinct. The gunman pulled out a handgun and forced the victim into his home and forcibly took $7,000 in cash and drove off in his BMW, police said, without disclosing the location of the victim’s home.
The two suspects showed up about an hour later at the Mr. East Deli located at 637 Sutter Ave. in the East New York section of Brooklyn, where the woman stepped to the counter and pulled out a stolen credit card to purchase over $100 worth of items, police said.
Two Queens mail carriers busted in alleged conspiracy to steal millions in COVID-19 unemployment benefits: Feds
Two Queens postal workers were arrested Friday, Aug. 12, and charged in connection with a conspiracy to receive bribes and steal hundreds of pieces of mail linked to a COVID-19 benefits scheme, federal prosecutors said.
The scheme sought to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment benefits from the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL).
Oscar Abreu, 41, of South Ozone Park and Aldo Palomino, Jr., 30, of Long Island City, and a third man, Rafael Grullon, 40, of Manhattan, were charged in White Plains federal court with conspiracy to commit theft and receipt of stolen mail, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; theft of mail by a postal officer or employee, which carries a maximum sentence of five years; and conspiracy to receive bribes, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Briarwood man charged in murder of Chinese food delivery worker in Forest Hills commits suicide ahead of court hearing
Hirsch’s body was discovered in his apartment by police at approximately 10:06 a.m. Hirsch’s attorney confirmed with QNS that Hirsch had shot himself.
Hirsch had allegedly been upset with the restaurant that the delivery worker, Zhiwen Yan, worked for, The Great Wall Restaurant in Forest Hills. There was a feud over duck sauce that led to the murder, earning Hirsch the moniker “Duck Sauce Killer.”
