Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Earlier today at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly sentenced the defendant Donald Warren to 18 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for shooting a woman during the course of a carjacking in Queens, New York, and participating in another carjacking as well. Warren and his co-defendant, John Howard, previously pleaded guilty to carjacking and related firearms charges. Howard is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

The sentence was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent-in-Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), New York Field Division, and James P. O’Neill, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD).

According to court filings, Warren and Howard participated in a string of violent carjackings between December 2015 and January 2016 in which the victims were threatened, robbed, and forced from their vehicles at gunpoint. As part of his plea agreement, Warren admitted that he participated in a carjacking on December 28, 2015, with Howard during which they stole a Mercedes Benz in front of the Best Western hotel in Jamaica, New York. Warren had threatened the driver with a gun, stole his wallet and forced him out of his car.

On January 21, 2016, Warren and Howard participated in an armed carjacking outside the Hampton Inn located in South Ozone Park, New York, that resulted in the shooting of a 53-year-old woman. The woman’s daughter was waiting in the passenger seat of a car parked in front of the hotel when Warren, armed with a loaded gun, entered the vehicle. Warren threatened the daughter and drove the car, with the daughter trapped inside it, around the hotel parking lot. When her mother left the hotel a few minutes later, Warren exited the vehicle and demanded the mother’s purse. After the mother refused and struck Warren in the face, he shot her in the chest. Howard and Warren then fled the scene. The shooting victim survived, but her injuries required hospitalization and surgery.

“Donald Warren committed violent carjackings culminating in the callous shooting of a woman for refusing to hand over her purse,” stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde. “Today’s sentence punishes him for the disregard he showed for human life.” Ms. Rohde extended her grateful appreciation to the Nassau County Police Department, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and the Queens District Attorney’s Office for their assistance during the investigation.

“Donald Warren and John Howard would prowl neighborhoods in Nassau and Queens looking for unsuspecting victims to carjack or rob at gunpoint,” stated ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Benedict. “Their pattern of violent crime escalated in a short period to the shooting of an innocent 53-year-old woman seeking to protect herself while Warren brandished a handgun and threatened her. After shooting the victim, Warren and Howard used a car previously stolen at gunpoint as a getaway vehicle. Warren deserves every day of the sentence received, and we hope his lengthy imprisonment provides some solace to the victims of his crimes. I would like to extend my gratitude to the ATF Special Agents and NYPD Detectives assigned to the ATF Strategic Pattern Armed Robbery Technical Apprehension (SPARTA) Joint Robbery Task Force, and to the United States Attorney’s Office for their outstanding work in bringing a violent offender to justice.”

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Tanya Hajjar and Moira Kim Penza are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:
DONALD WARREN
Age: 55
Queens, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-102 (AMD)

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