Diquan Booker set fire to Lynbrook Holiday Inn Express room in 2013 and shot a woman in 2014 with shotgun
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Long Beach man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for the attempted murder of a former girlfriend and a separate arson charge related to his torching of a Lynbrook Holiday Inn Express room in 2013.
Diquan Booker, 27, was sentenced today by Acting Supreme Court Justice William O’Brien to a determinate sentence of 15 years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty on Oct. 16, 2015 to charges from two separate indictments, which include Attempted Murder (a B violent felony), Criminal Use of a Firearm in the 1st Degree (a B violent felony), Arson in the 2nd Degree (a B violent felony) and Criminal Contempt in the 1st Degree (an E felony).
“This violent defendant showed no care or concern for the lives and safety of other people,” DA Singas said. “In two separate incidents he set a hotel room on fire – jeopardizing the lives of everyone in the building, as well as first responders – and later, he attempted to murder a former girlfriend by firing a shotgun at her face. Tackling the scourge of domestic violence is a priority for my office and we will aggressively prosecute abusers like Diquan Booker.”
DA Singas said on Sept. 28, 2013, Booker was staying in a Holiday Inn Express on Sunrise Highway in Lynbrook when he purchased charcoal lighter fluid and used the accelerant to set part of the hotel room on fire. The Lynbrook Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire, which was deemed suspicious by the Nassau County Fire Marshal.
Booker was subsequently arrested by the Nassau County Police Department Arson/Bomb Squad after an investigation and charged with the arson on October 10, 2013.
The defendant was arrested again on July 20, 2014 at a North Merrick home for the attempted murder of a 26-year-old woman with whom he had previously been in a relationship.
Booker was arguing with the woman when he produced a sawed-off shotgun and pointed it at her face. The victim, in an attempt to protect her face, put her hands up and the defendant shot her injuring her in the hands, shoulder and face with birdshot. The victim was taken to a local hospital where she was treated for her injuries, which included the amputation of two fingers.
The defendant was arrested at the scene by members of the Nassau County Police Department First Precinct.
Human Trafficking Unit Chief Amanda Burke, of DA Singas’ Special Victims Bureau, is prosecuting the 2014 case. Assistant District Attorney Patrick Brand of DA Singas’ County Court Trial Bureau is prosecuting the 2013 case. Booker is represented in the 2014 case by Robert Schalk, Esq. and by Lloyd Nadel, Esq. for the 2013 case.