STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island man accused of a violent burglary two years ago in his neighborhood was acquitted last week of the top counts, but convicted of misdemeanor assault.
Wafee Mincey, 29, of Mariners Harbor, was facing charges of felony assault and burglary, in addition to theft and additional misdemeanor assault counts stemming from the August 2024 incident.
Mincey, meanwhile, has two open drug cases. In one of those incidents, he allegedly sold cocaine on the same block where the 2024 melee occurred.
Justice Alexander B. Jeong, who is presiding over both cases, adjourned the proceedings to March 26 for a conference.
Jury hears arguments, views footage
The incident that went to trial first unfolded on the evening of Aug. 16, 2024, outside a storage space on Grandview Avenue.
A father and adult son who rented the garage claimed Mincey had unlawfully entered and possessed items, at which point the son confronted him.
At trial, jurors watched surveillance footage of the altercation, which started as an argument between Mincey and the adult son.
Prosecutors submitted Mincey returned multiple times to continue fighting, and at one point was clutching a set of keys as he rained down punches.
The father, 57, suffered lacerations to his head and a black eye, according to the complaint.
‘Ridiculously overcharged’: Defense
A Mariners Harbor man was acquitted of burglary and assault charges, but convicted of misdemeanor assault following an Aug. 16, 2024 incident at a rented garage on Grandview Avenue.(Google Maps)
Defense attorney Matthew Zuntag argued at trial that his client did not initiate the fight.
In a statement issued following the verdict, Zuntag alleged “the district attorney ridiculously overcharged this matter” and said the jury saw through it and found Mincey not guilty of the felony charges.
He vowed his client would “continue to fight the misdemeanor convictions on appeal, in an effort to completely clear his name.”
‘Unprovoked act’: D.A. McMahon
District Attorney Michael E. McMahon stated the following:
“In an unprovoked act of violence, Wafee Mincey brutally assaulted a father and son. Today, this defendant was held accountable in the courtroom…
“Senseless acts of violence will never be tolerated in our borough, and I thank our partners in law enforcement for identifying and swiftly arresting this individual just moments after this harrowing incident.”
McMahon went on to thank Assistant District Attorney Amelia Fanelli and Deputy Bureau Chief Lindsay Netterville for their work in pursuing a conviction, along with the jury, judge and members of the court for their service.
Ongoing drug dealing cases
Last month, prior to the trial proceedings, the defendant was arrested on drug dealing charges. He’s due back in court on March 26 in that case.
According to a criminal complaint, Mincey acted alongside a co-defendant in selling two ziplock bags of cocaine to an informant on a residential street in Mariners Harbor.
The co-defendant, John Hogans, 43, of South Avenue, is due back in court March 11 on felony drug dealing charges.
Mincey also has a second drug dealing case from last summer that is pending in Criminal Court, records show.