A Queens grand jury indicted a Brooklyn man for wielding a hammer while chasing a woman onto the grounds of the Jewish Institute of Queens in Elmhurst in late July, where he shoved a child and later bit an employee inside the school.
Shaleek Brunson, 42, of the Louis Pink Houses in East New York, was arraigned Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court on an 11-count indictment charging him with five counts of assault in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child and other related crimes.
According to the charges, at approximately 11 a.m. on July 28, Brunson approached a woman who was walking with two other people near the Queens Center Mall at 90-02 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst and chased her while swinging a hammer. She ran for approximately a quarter mile and at the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway, she ran across Woodhaven Boulevard in traffic to try to escape from Brunson, who continued to pursue her. The woman eventually sought refuge in a fenced-in area of the Jewish Institute of Queens located at 60-05 Woodhaven Blvd. Brunson followed her onto the school property, pulled on the front doors, then pushed his way into the fenced-in schoolyard, where numerous children were playing, while still holding the hammer. A camp counselor tried to get Brunson to leave the premises and was assisted by a good Samaritan who had witnessed the chase. The camp counselor removed the hammer from Brunson’s hand.
Brunson ran toward the metal gate of the schoolyard as he pushed children out of his way. When he got to the gate, he pushed an 8-year-old boy who was standing there, face-first into the gate. The youngster sustained a large laceration to his forehead. Brunson then ran into the school where several staffers tried to restrain him. He bit one of the school employees in the hand, but the staffer held on to Brunson until police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills arrived on the scene and took Brunson into custody.
EMS transported the injured youngster to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. He received six stitches to close the laceration on his head. The school staff member was treated at an area hospital for sustained redness and substantial pain from the bite to his hand.
“As alleged, this defendant caused chaos at a summer camp when he chased a woman onto school grounds and ran into a yard where children were playing while wielding a hammer,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “He then shoved an 8-year-old boy into a metal gate, causing a large cut to the boy’s head. Instead of leaving the property, the defendant entered a school building where he was restrained by staffers and bit one of them in the process.”
Brunson was additionally charged with menacing in the second degree, two counts of assault in the third degree and criminal trespass in the third degree. Prosecutors requested the defendant be remanded into custody, but Queens Supreme Court Justice Germaine Auguste set bail at $150,000 cash/$500,000 partially secured bond with 10% down and 2 signatures and a $500,000 insurance company bond and electronic monitoring should the defendant make bail.
Brunson was ordered to return to court on Oct. 7.
“A grand jury has now indicted him for assault and other crimes, and the defendant faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted,” Katz said. “We wish the victims well as they continue to recover.”