Queens court hearing: Man held without bail after family home clash

Rashaun Donovan, 48, appeared before Judge Thomas Wright-Fernandez in Queens Criminal Court on Tuesday, October 27. The judge remanded Donovan into custody without bail. He is charged with attempted murder in the second degree and several assault counts.

The charges stem from a confrontation at Donovan’s home on 149th Street in South Ozone Park. Police responded to a 911 call regarding a home invasion just after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, October 23. Officers from the 113th Precinct arrived to find a chaotic scene.

According to the criminal complaint, Donovan stabbed his 23-year-old nephew in the left shoulder with a kitchen knife while they fought on a staircase. He then stabbed a 39-year-old man in the left shoulder and right bicep. The injured nephew appeared in a second-floor window and told officers he could not let them inside because his uncle remained on the ground floor.

Emergency Service and hostage negotiation teams arrived at the scene. A wounded woman later appeared at a third-floor window and threw a set of house keys to the officers below. Police entered through a rear door and proceeded to a second-floor bedroom.

In that room, officers found the woman who had tossed the keys and two men struggling. The two men complied with commands to raise their hands. The woman did not comply and moved toward officers while holding a knife. NYPD Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera stated that the woman was within several feet of the officers when an officer discharged his firearm, striking her. Officers also deployed a taser and recovered the knife.

The woman was transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in stable condition. Donovan, who had a slash wound on his right pinky, and his nephew were taken to North Shore University Hospital, where both were listed in stable condition. The nephew received five stitches in his left shoulder. The 39-year-old man, who also received five stitches in his left shoulder and right bicep, was treated at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.

Crime scene investigators recovered two knives from the location. The Force Investigation Division is investigating the police-involved shooting. Donovan was arrested and charged the morning after the incident.