Rikers Island
June 24, 2014 By Christian Murray
A Queens man has been convicted of using a handgun in order to cut in line at an Astoria gas station in the days following SuperStorm Sandy, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Sean M. Bailey, of St. Albans, drove his white 2010 BMW into a service station at the intersection of Astoria Boulevard and 43rd Street at about 2:30 am November 1, 2012, and cut in line in front of Ali El Rida, 29, according to testimony.
When El Rida complained, Bailey exited his BMW and walked up to El Rida’s car carrying a .25 caliber pistol and stated: “If you don’t pull back, you are not getting gas tonight.”
El Rida complied with Bailey’s request to back up and then called 911. The police arrived and arrested Bailey at the gas station.
Bailey was convicted yesterday of second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing following a nine-day jury trial.
Bailey is scheduled to be sentenced on September 3 at which time he faces a minimum of seven years and a maximum of fifteen years in prison. He is currently incarcerated at Rikers Island.
“Superstorm Sandy stands as one of the worst natural disasters to strike our city in recent memory,” said District Attorney Richard A Brown, in a statement following the trial.
“In its aftermath the vast majority of New Yorkers behaved decently, though there were random instances, such as in this case, where the defendant refused to play by the rules and chose instead to resort to thuggish behavior in order to get what he wanted.”
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