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DA: Astoria’s Brick Brute Gets Eight-Year Prison Sentence

Footage of Omer Khogali

April 2, 2014 By Michael Florio

An Astoria teenager who thumped a 16-year-old girl with a brick last year was sentenced to eight years in prison last month, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

The sentence follows Omer Khogali’s guilty plea on Feb. 19, when he admitted to bashing Michelle Rodriguez with a brick.

Rodriguez was targeted by Khogali for drawing attention to him while he tried to break several vehicles. She shouted at him while he was grabbing door handles in the vicinity of 47th street and 21st Ave., according to the criminal complaint. Khogali fled the scene at the time.

Later that night, Khogali tracked down Rodriguez and caught up with her along 43rd Street. He bashed her head with a brick multiple times and left her unconscious and critically injured. The incident occurred near an alley located at 22-63 43rd St., according to the complaint.

Rodriguez was taken to Elmhurst hospital where she was admitted for lacerations, fractures to the face and head and intracranial bleeding.

Khogali was caught after police got footage of him from a surveillance camera. The footage showed Khogali in the alley as well as him running from the scene. It also caught him tossing the brick near the intersection of 43rd Street and 23rd Ave. The police later discovered a brick with bloodstains on the ground near the intersection.

“This was a brutal, vicious attack,” former Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. told the Queens Gazette. “There’s no excuse for this. This guy is an animal.”

Khogali was initially charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree which carries a sentence of 25 years.

However, he reached a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to first degree assault.