Antonio Quinones of the Woodside Houses was indicted by a Queens grand jury for slashing a woman across her face with a boxcutter after he tried to slash a man during a confrontation in front of a fish market in Astoria.
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A Queens grand jury indicted a Woodside Houses man for slashing two victims with a boxcutter during a bloody rampage outside of a fish market in Astoria last month.
Antonio Quinones, 35, was arraigned April 16 in Queens Supreme Court on a four-count indictment charging him with assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, attempted assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon. If convicted, Quinones faces up to 25 years in prison.
According to the indictment and investigation, on March 2, at around 4:20 p.m., Quinones was inside the Broadway Deli & Grill near Newtown Road, about a block from his home at 50-54 Broadway, when he began arguing with another patron and stepped on the man’s shoe. The defendant and the customer took it outside, where their heated argument continued. Quinones kicked the man’s motorized scooter, which was parked outside the fish market next door, and threw a cup of coffee on it. Quinones allegedly pulled out a boxcutter and swung it at the victim several times. The blade swings pierced the victim’s jacket on the body and the sleeve. The victim pushed Quinones away and rode off on his scooter. Quinones began to argue briefly with a second victim, a 29-year-old woman, and slashed her twice across the face with the boxcutter.
Quinones ran off towards the Woodside Houses and was apprehended a short while later by police from the 114th Precinct in Astoria, who responded to a 911 call of an assault in progress.
They found 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, the defendant took out a boxcutter and attacked two people outside an Astoria market,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “He slashed the coat of a 54-year-old man with whom he had a verbal argument and then cut a 29-year-old woman’s face, causing a deep laceration. A grand jury has now returned serious charges against the defendant, who faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.”
Quinones pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before Queens Supreme Court Justice Cimino, who set bail at $150,000 cash and $300,000 bond and ordered Quinones to return to court on June 9.