A Woodside Houses man is facing up to a quarter century in prison for attacking two people, including a woman who he allegedly slashed in the face, in broad daylight at an Astoria fish store just a block from his home during the afternoon on Monday, March 2.
Antonio Quinones, 36, was arraigned March 4 in Queens Criminal Court on a criminal complaint charging him with two counts of assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for his bloody rampage at the Broadway Deli & Grill near Newtown Road.
According to the charges, at approximately 4:20 p.m., Quinones was inside the store at 48-18 Broadway when he began arguing with a 54-year-old man before storming out of the store and kicking a scooter belonging to the patron he had the confrontation with, which was parked in front of the fish market next door. The two began to argue again when Quinones brandished a knife and swung at the victim several times. One of the blade swings pierced the man’s jacket causing tears on the body and on the sleeve.
The victim backed away from Quinones who proceeded to charge at his second victim, a 29-year-old woman who tried to intervene, and slashed her twice across the face with the knife, before running off towards the Woodside Houses, according to the charges. Police from the 114th Precinct responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress in front of the fish market and they found the 54-year-old man, who was not injured, and the wounded woman who sustained a deep gash to her face and considerable pain, according to the criminal complaint. EMS responded to the location and rushed her to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.
“As alleged, a knife-wielding defendant went on a rampage outside a local market in Astoria,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “Antonio Quinones first caused a disturbance inside a nearby deli and then allegedly attempted to stab a 54-year-old patron outside a neighboring fish market. He is also accrued of slashing a 29-year-old woman across the face causing a deep laceration.”
Quinones was taken into custody by police nearby shortly after the bloody assaults and was booked at the 114th Precinct.
“Thanks to our partners in the NYPD, this defendant was quickly apprehended after the incident,” Katz said. “We will hold the defendant accountable for these senseless attacks.”
Quinones pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before Queens Criminal Court Judge Lana Schlesinger and was held on $150,000 cash bail. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
