NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Queens spa customer was left paralyzed from a gunshot wound after a man went on a weeklong violent crime spree at local spas, prosecutors announced on Thursday.
Shahab Usman, 40, was arraigned on Wednesday on two separate complaints charging him with robbery, assault, rape, attempted rape, criminal possession of a weapon, attempted sexual abuse and menacing.
"We will be prosecuting the man we believe to be the violent predator responsible for a string of robberies, assaults and sex crimes," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. "The NYPD's investigation of these crimes fortunately led to the defendant's arrest and we can now work to hold him accountable in court."
Four incidents were reported in total, with the most recent this past Monday, police said. One of the workers was sexually assaulted at gunpoint, while a customer was shot in the abdomen and critically injured.
The spree began on Sunday, Nov. 26, when Usman and an accomplice, armed with a gun and knife, robbed a spa at 185th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, demanding cash from three individuals, taking three cellphones and $5,000.
The violence escalated on Saturday night with back-to-back robberies in South Richmond Hill and Richmond Hill. At a spa on 114th Street and Liberty Avenue, Usman attacked a 57-year-old woman, pistol-whipping her and stealing her cellphone and $700. She was later hospitalized with face and leg injuries.
Shortly afterwards, at a spa on 124th Street and Jamaica Avenue, Usman attempted to rob and sexually assault a woman, 45. During this incident, he fired a shot that critically injured a man, 52, in a separate room.
On Monday, around 3:40 p.m., the spree continued at a spa on 113th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill. He forced a 50-year-old woman into a private room at gunpoint, sexually assaulted her, and robbed her of $190. He then proceeded to rob two other women at gunpoint.
The identity of the paralyzed victim was not disclosed.
If convicted, Usman faces 25 years.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
