Rodolfo Lopez-Portillo, 51, of Jamaica Avenue, was convicted by a jury of fatally beating 60-year-old Arasb Shoughi in the head with a metal pipe repeatedly in his head so severely, investigators believed the victim had suffered a gunshot wound. The jury deliberated for a day before reaching a guilty verdict on two counts of murder in the second degree, two counts of robbery in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
“This defendant brutally bludgeoned a Queens pawn shop owner to death with what appeared to be a metal pipe,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “After stealing jewelry and other items from the property, Rodolpho Lopez-Portillo then stole a ring off the dying man’s finger before fleeing the location.”
According to the charges and trial testimony, on March 28, 2022, at 12:46 p.m., Lopez-Portillo entered the Global Pawn Shop on Jamaica Avenue near 179th St. in Hollis wearing a black face mask, black hood, black gloves and sunglasses. He sold two wristwatches to Shoughi who gave him cash in exchange. Shoughi then left the employee side of the shop and entered the customer side to place the watches in a display case. Lopez-Portillo took off one glove, discreetly displayed what appeared to be a metal pipe and, when Shoughi’s back was turned, hit him on the head. The victim fell to the floor and the defendant hit him again repeatedly causing the Shoughi to bleed profusely.
The victim from Jamaica Estates was bludgeoned so badly during the attack that investigators initially believed he had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Lopez-Portillo went to the rear of the shop and with his ungloved hand took various items including coins and jewelry and put them in his backpack. He hit Shoughi again until the victim was motionless and then took his ring and other personal property. A woman entered the shop and saw Lopez-Potillo behind the counter. She went outside and called the police. Lopez-Portillo left the pawn shop but not before hitting the Jamaica Estates resident three more times in the head with the pipe. Police from the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress inside the pawn shop just before 1 p.m.and found the victim with severe head trauma.
EMS responded to the crime scene and transported the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where doctors revealed that the victim was suffering from severe head and brain blunt force trauma. He succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on April 17, 2022.
Video surveillance tracked Lopez-Potillo backwards from the pawn shop and showed him leaving his nearby apartment building on Jamaica Avenue near 186th Street earlier that morning.
Lopez-Portillo lived near the pawn shop on Jamaica Avenue in Hollis.Photo courtesy of the NYPD
Lopez-Potillo fled to Baltimore, Maryland after the murder where he stayed for two weeks before he was tracked down at a Greyhound bus station and taken into custody on May 5. He was extradited back to Queens to face justice on May 18. The defendant’s suitcase, which was recovered from the residence in Baltimore, contained coins, watches and jewelry. Some of the coins were identified as coming from Shoughi’s shop. Fingerprints found at the pawn shop matched those of the defendant.
Trial openings began on March 17 and closings took place on April 13. Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis ordered Lopez-Potrillo to return to court for sentencing on May 11.
“Thanks to the hard work of our partners at the Maryland State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, the defendant was apprehended approximately one month after the murder at a Greyhound bus station and returned to New York to face justice,” Katz said. “The defendant has now been convicted of murder and will face 25 years to life in prison. At sentencing.”