![\"Burglary,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/UGWZBPLUQNHGJH235BVTH2HX54.png\")
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)<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Justice Alexander B. Jeong, who is presiding over both cases, adjourned the proceedings to March 26 for a conference.<\/p>\n
Jury hears arguments, views footage<\/p>\n
The incident that went to trial first unfolded on the evening of Aug. 16, 2024, outside a storage space on Grandview Avenue.<\/p>\n
A father and adult son who rented the garage claimed Mincey had unlawfully entered and possessed items, at which point the son confronted him.<\/p>\n
At trial, jurors watched surveillance footage of the altercation, which started as an argument between Mincey and the adult son. <\/p>\n
Prosecutors submitted Mincey returned multiple times to continue fighting, and at one point was clutching a set of keys as he rained down punches. <\/p>\n
The father, 57, suffered lacerations to his head and a black eye, according to the complaint. <\/p>\n
\u2018Ridiculously overcharged\u2019: DefenseA 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)<\/p>\n
Defense attorney Matthew Zuntag argued at trial that his client did not initiate the fight.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued following the verdict, Zuntag alleged \u201cthe district attorney ridiculously overcharged this matter\u201d and said the jury saw through it and found Mincey not guilty of the felony charges. <\/p>\n
He vowed his client would \u201ccontinue to fight the misdemeanor convictions on appeal, in an effort to completely clear his name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Unprovoked act\u2019: D.A. McMahon<\/p>\n
District Attorney Michael E. McMahon stated the following:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an unprovoked act of violence, Wafee Mincey brutally assaulted a father and son. Today, this defendant was held accountable in the courtroom…<\/p>\n
\u201cSenseless 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Ongoing drug dealing cases<\/p>\n
Last month, prior to the trial proceedings, the defendant was arrested on drug dealing charges. He\u2019s due back in court on March 26 in that case.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The co-defendant, John Hogans, 43, of South Avenue, is due back in court March 11 on felony drug dealing charges. <\/p>\n
Mincey also has a second drug dealing case from last summer that is pending in Criminal Court, records show. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 A Staten Island man accused of a violent burglary two years ago in his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-123102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}