DA VANCE: TWO CONVICTED AT TRIAL OF ASSAULT ON MASSACHUSETTS MAN AND FRIENDS
Last week, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., recently announced the conviction of HATEM FARSAKH, 25, and SHERIF RIZK, 23, for assaulting five individuals, nearly beating a 24-year-old man to death in Greenwich Village. FARSAKH was found guilty by a jury in New York State Supreme Court of one of the top counts against him – Gang Assault in the First Degree – as well as Attempted Gang Assault in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree; he is expected to be sentenced on November 7, 2013. RIZK was convicted of Assault in the Second Degree; he is expected to be sentenced on November 26, 2013.
“A night on the town turned into a nightmare for several young men when the defendants turned a verbal argument into a physical attack by introducing a tire iron and baseball bat,” said District Attorney Vance. “This was a brutal and savage assault, in which the defendants acted together to inflict as much pain and injury as possible.”
As proven at trial, around 5 o’clock in the morning on January 13, 2013, outside a pizzeria on MacDougal Street, the defendants and their accomplices got into an argument with a group of young men visiting New York. The defendants then removed a tire iron, a baseball bat, and other objects from the trunk of RIZK’s car and began attacking the young men as they tried to flee. They used the objects to hit at least four people. One, a 24-year-old man, was beaten until he collapsed in the street, where he continued to be assaulted, which resulted in the fracturing of his skull. He was nearly killed.
After the victim lost consciousness, the defendants got into RIZK’s car and fled. They were later identified and apprehended several days after the assault.
FARSAKH, who was free on bail, failed to return to court prior to the trial and is now a fugitive. He was convicted by the jury in absentia, and is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
Assistant District Attorneys Lucy Lang and Sophia Khan handled the prosecution of the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney William Darrow, Chief of the Trial Bureau 70, Assistant District Attorney John Irwin, Deputy Chief of the Trial Division, and Executive Assistant District Attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, Chief of the Trial Division. Trial Preparation Assistant Liza Weisberg assisted with the case.
District Attorney Vance also thanked members of the NYPD, including Lieutenants Courtney Nilan and James Schleyer, and detectives from the NYPD’s 6th Precinct.
Defendant Information:
HATEM FARSAKH, D.O.B. 7/12/1988
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Convicted:
- Gang Assault in the First Degree, a class B felony, 1 count
- Attempted Gang Assault in the First Degree, a class C felony, 4 counts
- Assault in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 2 counts
SHERIF RIZK, D.O.B. 5/23/1990
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Convicted:
- Assault in the Second Degree, a class D felony, 1 count