{"id":335427,"date":"2026-09-02T00:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T00:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/335427\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T00:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T00:32:13","slug":"blakeman-vows-to-restaff-nys-parole-board-as-he-blames-hochul-for-parolees-deadly-nyc-shooting-spree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/335427\/","title":{"rendered":"Blakeman vows to restaff NYS parole board as he blames Hochul for parolee’s deadly NYC shooting spree"},"content":{"rendered":"

The violent parolee charged with killing two men<\/a> in a vicious 48-hour robbery spree should never have been freed \u2014 and Gov. Kathy Hochul is to blame, GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, said the state parole board should never have released accused double-killer Jesus Acosta in April after he did 10 years in state prison for felony assault \u2014 and should not have been free to kill a beloved Brooklyn dad. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to appoint people to the parole board who put safety first, who put community first, who care about public safety,\u201d Blakeman told reporters outside America\u2019s Best Wings and Pizza on Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville, where deli worker MD Yousuf was shot dead on Aug. 23.<\/p>\n

State Assemblyman Michael Novakhov, from left, Norman Ramsey, Bruce Blakeman, Melvin Rivera and State Senator Steve Chan attend a press conference in front of American Best Wings & Pizza in the Brooklyn. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was the purpose of letting this violent felon out, and, obviously, they didn\u2019t do their homework on what type of individual this was, because this individual committed two murders,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd just let out of prison by a parole board. How many families have to be hurt and torn apart before we get some sanity in our criminal justice system here in New York State?\u201d<\/p>\n

Acosta is charged with stabbing Yousuf during a robbery at the wings joint, striking the father of two in the head and wounding another man in the leg before running off. <\/p>\n

Yousuf was rushed to Brookdale Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n

Police said Acosta wasn\u2019t done, and allegedly robbed a bodega on 149th Street in the Bronx around 12:15 a.m. on Tuesday, where he is accused of shooting and killing 33-year-old customer Tayvon Shuler.<\/p>\n

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at a press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 1. William Farrington for The NY Post<\/p>\n

Jesus Acosta, 31, is accused of killing two people during armed robberies just 48 hours apart. William Miller<\/p>\n

The NYPD caught up with the ex-con at a Bronx park<\/a> Saturday, and he is charged with both murders. The suspect now faces life in prison without chance of parole if he is convicted.<\/p>\n

Blakeman said he should never have been on the streets in the first place.<\/p>\n

Acosta was sent to state prison for shooting a 20-year-old man during a scuffle on a No. 2 train on May 5, 2015, and was later convicted of felony assault and weapons possession. <\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Brownsville, again, and up in the Bronx, we had a murder of two individuals,\u201d he said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t have to happen. That\u2019s because of Kathy Hochul and her policies that have made us all less safe. <\/p>\n

A vigil and memorial is set up for the 33-year-old man who was fatally shot inside of 143 East 149 Street. Kyle Mazza\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I will tell you right now, when I become governor, I am going to ask for the resignation of every one of those parole board members, and I\u2019m going to appoint people who look after the safety of communities first, and the criminals last.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul\u2019s office disputed Blakeman\u2019s allegations, saying that Acosta wasn\u2019t freed by a parole board.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe County Executive either does not understand the law or is lying,\u201d a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement. \u201cThis individual was released after serving his maximum sentence in state prison \u2014 not by a parole board.<\/p>\n

\u201cDOCCS is assisting the NYPD and Bronx DA in this investigation and the Governor believes he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York State Democratic Party Spokesperson Addison Dick also took a shot at Blakeman.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Hochul was crystal clear today: Donald Trump is defunding the police in New York \u2013 and now Bruce Blakeman is on the record defending him for doing it,\u201d a spokesperson for the state Dem party said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernor Hochul invested nearly $4 billion in public safety and put boots on the ground in our subways while Blakeman let violent crime spike to 10-year highs on his watch. That\u2019s the difference in this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blakeman also cited the fatal stabbing of 32-year-old Bank of America executive<\/a> Erin Piacenti and wounding of a 68-year-old tourist in Times Square on Monday, calling it \u201ccompletely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The knife-wielding suspect in that case, Pamela Cisneros, 49, was shot and killed by police<\/a> when she lunged at cops in a dramatic caught-on-video encounter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The violent parolee charged with killing two men in a vicious 48-hour robbery spree should never have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1626,426,57,9,11,10,49,51,50,4437,2955,3980,58],"class_list":["post-335427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-bruce-blakeman","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-parole","tag-robberies","tag-shootings","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335427","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=335427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}