By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-29 21:59:23 | Updated at 2026-07-29 22:41:20
44 minutes ago
A career criminal with over 50 busts who allegedly chased a frightened 19-year-old woman into a Queens Jewish school this week has repeatedly been cut loose without bail because of the Empire State’s lax criminal justice reforms.
Shaleek Brunson, 42, was hit Wednesday with assault, menacing, burglary and weapons charges for the terrifying incident at the Jewish Institute of Queens in Elmhurst — but none of those raps are bail-eligible, meaning he could just get cut loose again.
Police said a hammer-wielding Brunson allegedly followed the victim, a stranger, before she ran into the religious school for safety on Tuesday morning. He scuffled with a security guard there before he was taken into custody, according to cops.
Brunson had just been arrested on Friday in Manhattan for allegedly stealing $1,300 of items from Bergdorf Goodman.
He was charged with grand larceny and released at his arraignment Sunday on non-monetary conditions.
The new charge against Brunson also falls short of the lefty bail threshold — which means he could technically walk free yet again in spite of the 53 arrests on his rap sheet.
Brunson was hospitalized after his arrest and his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court remained pending Wednesday.
He’s well known to Queens prosecutors, with several of his previous arrests taking place in the borough.
On July 10, he was charged with petty larceny in Queens for an incident two days earlier, and referred to an alternative intervention program, but also released without bail.
At that time he was already facing charges for petty larceny and possession of stolen property from another Queens incident in April, according to online court records.
According to law-enforcement sources, Brunson had an additional two dozen busts that have since been sealed.
Police said Brunson has had “extensive contact” with the NYPD in the past.
In the most recent incident Tuesday, cops said Brunson started following the woman at Hoffman Drive and Woodhaven Boulevard around 10:50 a.m., prompting her to duck into the Jewish school to get away.
Brunson allegedly followed her inside, where he got into a scrum with the guard, with an 8-year-old boy getting knocked to the ground and hitting his head during the scuffle, police said.
Cops have not revealed what prompted the maniac to follow the woman.
Sources said the woman is not Jewish and a rep for Queens Shmira, a nonprofit public safety patrol, said they could “confirm that this incident was not a hate crime.”
