Detectives at the 108th Precinct in Long Island City escorted Osvel Diaz of Forest Hills to his arraignment on attempted murder and assault charges for beating a 62-year-old deli worker in Woodside on the night of June 17. Photo by Dean Moses
June 28, 2024 By Bill Parry
A Forest Hills man has been criminally charged for the savage beating of a 62-year-old deli worker that took place in Woodside on the night of Monday, June 17.
Osvel Diaz, 29, of 62nd Drive, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court Thursday night on a criminal complaint charging him with attempted murder and assault for brutally attacking a store worker who accidentally bumped into him while he was in the Sunnyside Mini Market Deli located at 63-20 Broadway.
Photo by Dean Moses
Diaz allegedly pummeled Abdul Alshawish until he was rendered unconscious and then continued to kick him in the face as he lay on the deli floor.
According to the charges, at approximately 11:17 p.m. video surveillance shows Diaz punching Alshawish at least a dozen times in the head and then kicking him at least ten times in his face as he was on the floor. The back of Alshawish’s head could be seen smashing into a metal counter with each blow.
During the beatdown, one man could be seen fleeing the store while a second man tried to intervene and retreated. Diaz briefly walked out of the store only to return moments later to deliver three more kicks to the victim’s face.
Police from the 108th Precinct in Long Island City responded and found Alshawish unconscious and unresponsive. EMS rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition with a brain hemorrhage, multiple facial fractures, mid-face separation and fractured orbital bone, nasal and sinuses, according to the criminal complaint.
Detectives and the NYPD Warrant Squad tracked down Diaz at his 62nd Drive home on June 26. They took him into custody following a brief standoff with a three-week-old baby inside the house, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.
The infant was not injured during the takedown, and when he was booked at the 108th Precinct, Diaz was initially charged with endangering the welfare of a child. However, he was not arraigned on that charge, according to the criminal complaint.
In the horrific video, Diaz could be seen with his hair dyed green and blue. As he was led out of the 108th Precinct in Long Island City on Thursday, Diaz had shaved off the dyed hair in an unsuccessful attempt to evade law enforcement. He could also be seen with many tattoos, including one with “Killer” written on his arm.
Diaz refused to comment as reporters shouted questions at him outside the precinct while detectives loaded him into a waiting NYPD vehicle for his arraignment in Kew Gardens.
“The defendant is alleged to have brutally beaten a defenseless store employee until he was unconscious and then went on to repeatedly kick the motionless victim in the head,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Judge Edward Daniels remanded Diaz into custody without bail and ordered him to return to court on July 2. If convicted, Diaz faces up to 25 years in prison.
“Business owners and their workers should never have to fear that they will be the targets of violence,” Katz said. “We will do everything we can to protect shopkeepers because when our local businesses thrive, our communities thrive.”
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