The attorney for a convicted career thief accused of going on a rush-hour robbery spree and shootout with cops is relying on a lack of DNA evidence to get a jury’s acquittal.
“The evidence will show that there was no DNA in that house or in the car. No victim will identify my client,” said David L. Cohen in his opening statements on behalf of Darius Lowery, who is on trial along with his alleged cohort, Urban Fermin.
Fermin, 33, and Lowery, 25, are accused of stealing a St. Albans man’s 2000 Ford Focus, driving to a random South Ozone Park home and burglarizing two women at gunpoint and snatching another woman’s purse a few blocks away.
The alleged masked gunmen are facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted for a laundry list of charges including two counts of first–degree attempted murder of a police officer.
Lowery was convicted last year for the gun-point robbery of a Far Rockaway jewelry store on Nov 28, 2009 where he stole more than $100,000 in items and brutally assaulted the elderly owner. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1 in Central Islip Federal Court and faces up to 20 years in prison. Lowery participated in the crime weeks after he was released from state prison for robbery of a Queens fish market.
After 911 was called for each of morning rush hour crimes on Feb 2, 2010, the pair allegedly lead patrol cops on a high-speed chase — up to 60 miles per hour — throughout South Jamaica including down the wrong way of the Van Wyck Expressway Service Road, charged Assistant District Attorney Francis Longobardi.
Prosecutors intend to prove that Fermin was the driver and Lowery was the passenger who fired eight shots at the police during the chase on Sutphin Blvd “while children were going to school.”
“Some witnesses will say the driver fired shots, others will say the passenger fired, none will identify Darius Lowery,” said Cohen.
Fermin’s attorney, Mahmoud Rabah, requested the chosen jurors to be “fair and impartial” and to listen to the evidence.
Fermin and Lowery allegedly jumped out of the moving vehicle on a residential block in Springfield Gardens where it crashed into parked cars before stopping.
“They found Fermin’s clothing all over the scene,” said Longobardi.
Cops recovered all the stolen items from the home invasion and the robbery as well as a .9mm pistol.
Fermin was apprehended at the scene and Lowery surrendered from his Ozone Park home.