A Far Rockaway man was arrested for beating a man on the front yard of his home, and taking part in a riot that resulted in a car being set ablaze during a wild car meetup in Queens, cops announced Thursday.
Justin Aguilera, 19, is being charged with gang assault, assault, trespassing and riot for his role in the violence that broke out after a Queens man told a rowdy group of car enthusiasts to get off his property, cops said.
The suspect made no comment and kept his head down as officers led him out of the 109th Precinct station house Thursday night.
A law enforcement source told the Daily News that investigators linked Aguilera’s car to the incident, after which it was only a matter of time until police had him in cuffs.
The suspect was among dozens of people riding in a fleet of roughly 50 cars that descended on 141st St. near 11th Ave. in Whitestone on Nov. 23 for a car meetup involving drag racing, donuts and other stunts.
Amid the chaos, the revelers set off fireworks that ignited a parked and unoccupied Ford Fusion around 12:30 a.m., cops said.
Aguilera then allegedly joined in a gang beatdown of 50-year-old Blake Ferrer, who lives on the block, after the Queens homeowner confronted those partying on his lawn.
“There were over 50 cars right on my block, in all different directions, four to six people getting out of each car to go watch the drag racing and lighting a car on fire,” said the victim’s wife, Melissa Ferrer, also 50. “We were just trying to get people to leave and get off our property. We shouldn’t have confronted all these people. They were young and ended up attacking us.”
“I was fighting people off to protect my husband and my house,” added the wife, who was punched in the face but did not require medical treatment. “He has fractures all over his body. One person punched me.”
“Once my husband was down, they knew not to go further or else they would have killed him,” Melissa Ferrer added\. “They scattered and went in the cars.”
Medics rushed the husband, who suffered a broken nose and ribs, to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens in stable condition.
City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R-Queens) in a post on X blamed “a large group of individuals from outside my district” and said the NYPD was slow to respond.
“These violent street takeovers should be met with maximum force by the police department. We have NEVER had these problems before. Now it’s an epidemic. What changed? We stopped arresting criminals.”
An NYPD spokesperson later said a chief met with Paladino and local residents on Sunday and that patrols will be increased in the neighborhood.
The spokesperson noted it was a busy night in the precinct and cops were responding to multiple high-priority incidents, including a DWI arrest, a hospital transport and a crash with injuries.
The car meetup incident was escalated to a criminal mischief case as more information came in and a patrol supervisor then arrived on scene about 10 minutes later, the spokesperson said.
Last week, police released photos of two other suspects, both believed to be between 18 and 24, who joined in beating Ferrer and have not been apprehended.
Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. Calls are confidential.
