NEW YORK, NY – Supreme Gooding, 18, and Robert Whack, 30, have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on attempted murder, assault, robbery and other charges.
According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, the defendants allegedly attacked two elderly women on two separate occasions in March and took their pocketbooks.
“The defendants are also accused of stabbing the two good Samaritans who intervened when they saw the men attack one of the female victims near their pizzeria,” Katz added.
District Attorney Katz said, “As alleged, the defendants targeted two women to steal their handbags and stabbed two good Samaritans who selflessly intervened during one of the incidents. Thankfully, no lives were lost but we will not allow senseless violence to become the norm in our communities. Both defendants now face serious charges for their alleged actions.”
District Attorney Katz said, “According to the charges, at approximately 5:35 p.m. on March 16, 2022, a 75-year-old woman was entering her apartment building on 64th Street when she felt her purse and cane she uses being pulled out of her hands. The defendants were allegedly observed on video surveillance running down the block in possession of the victim’s purse immediately after the robbery.”
Then, on March 26, 2022, at approximately 8:45 p.m. a 61-year-old woman was walking on Baxter Avenue and Judge Street in Elmhurst, Queens, when defendant Whack grabbed her purse. She struggled to regain her property from Whack and Gooding. Bystanders who witnessed the attack began to yell for help.
DA Katz said a 68-year-old pizzeria owner and his 38-year-old son heard the bystanders and ran to the corner to assist the victim. The defendants, who were in possession of the victim’s purse, attacked the men, ultimately stabbing the older man multiple times and the younger man once. Both defendants then fled the area.
The three victims were taken to a local Queens hospital. As a result of the attack, the 68-year-old victim sustained nine stab wounds to his chest and back and suffered a collapsed lung. His son also sustained a collapsed lung and a stab wound to his back, as well as other injuries. The 61-year-old woman sustained a single stab wound to the back.
Continuing, DA Katz said, the defendants were apprehended a short distance away, shortly after they fled. Police allegedly recovered a knife from Whack’s jacket pocket that appeared to have blood on it, along with 39 glassine envelopes of heroin.