STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Courtroom drama surrounding the case of a Staten Island man who was tried recently on burglary and assault charges began days before opening arguments.
Wafee Mincey, 31, of Mariners Harbor, was originally scheduled to go to trial in December 2025 in connection with the burglary arrest. But days prior to the proceedings, the court received word that his house had burned down.
Court officials couldn’t believe it, but as it turned out, his story checked out, according to sources familiar with the case. In light of the news, the trial was postponed to January 2026.
Then, another surprise.
On Jan. 16, the defendant was arrested again on drug dealing charges. That arrest unfolded just feet from the location of the alleged burglary and assault incident.
Mincey is due back March 26 for both cases in state Supreme Court, St. George, before Justice Alexander B. Jeong.
3-alarm house fire
The fire at the defendant’s home on Grandview Avenue prompted an FDNY response in the early morning hours of Dec. 10.
A firefighter was injured in the blaze and transported to an area hospital. A civilian, who was unnamed, suffered minor injuries but remained at the scene, an FDNY spokesperson said at the time.
About 40 units and 140 fire and EMS personnel brought the blaze under control in less than two hours, at 7:21 a.m., the spokesperson added.
The FDNY responded to a house fire Dec. 10 on Grandview Avenue near Davidson Street in Mariners Harbor, in an incident that left a firefighter and civilian injured. (Advance/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)
The fire reportedly began in the basement of the one-story home. Fire marshals were investigating the cause of the blaze.
A neighbor, Celine Eve, said she woke up to what sounded like two loud explosions around 5:45 a.m.
When she looked out her window, she saw “the fire high and ablaze.” She went outdoors and saw that “a lot of people were already outside the house.
“We did see someone try to run in the house. I don’t think they knew everyone was out.”
Drug dealing arrests
Wafee Mincey, 29, of Mariners Harbor, was arraigned in January in Criminal Court on drug dealing charges, days prior to the start of a separate trial in state Supreme Court, St. George. (NJ Advance Media | Patti Sapone)
In January, days prior to the re-scheduled trial date, the defendant was arrested on drug dealing charges.
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, meanwhile, has a second drug dealing case from last summer that is pending in Criminal Court, records show.
He was acquitted of felony assault and burglary in the first case, but convicted of misdemeanor assault.