FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 1, 2019
Defendant Who Attacked Three Men Near Gay Nightclub
Sentenced to 21 Years in State Prison
Slashed One Victim Inside Restaurant and Attacked Two Others Outside a Gay Club
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 34-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 21 years in prison following his conviction last month on first-degree assault and other charges for slashing one man, menacing another with a weapon and stabbing a third near a gay nightclub in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a terrifying attack carried out for no reason that left three innocent men traumatized. I am committed to protecting all of the people of Brooklyn from such brutal violence. Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as James Thomas, a.k.a., Mousey Baby, 34, of Prospect Heights. He was sentenced today to 21 years in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo. The defendant was convicted of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, second-degree menacing and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon last month following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on March 5, 2017, at approximately 4:30 a.m., inside a Crown Fried Chicken restaurant located at 1147 Fulton Street, the defendant, who is a local rapper, shouted at various patrons inside of the restaurant, many of whom had just exited the nearby Langston Club, which is a predominantly gay night club. The defendant slashed the first victim in the face with a knife and left the restaurant.
The defendant then confronted two other men who had also left Langston Club and were attempting to walk into the same restaurant. He pushed the second victim up against a wall, menaced him with a knife and stabbed the third victim twice in the torso and once in the shoulder when he tried to come to his friend’s aid. Police responded to the scene, but the defendant had already fled the area.
The first stabbing victim was taken to the hospital and received 18 stitches on the left side of his face. The second stabbing victim received three stitches to the torso and was hospitalized overnight.
The defendant turned himself into police at the 79th precinct stationhouse on March 9, 2017, after video surveillance footage from the scene was released to the media.
The case was investigated by New York City Police Department Detective Andrew Smart of the Hate Crimes Task Force.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney T. Peter Choi, of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, Chief of the Hate Crimes Bureau, under the overall supervision of Executive District Attorney Joseph P. Alexis, Chief of the Trial Division.
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