Seasoned Criminal & Teenage Girl Charged In Violent Bensonhurst Carjacking

A 31-year-old man and a teenaged girl have been arrested and charged in the brutal beating, kidnapping, and carjacking of a Bensonhurst woman last week.

Authorities believe Stafford Berrian — who has a rap sheet dating back to 2001 — and his 17-year-old accomplice Quiana Hodges, of Queens, ambushed their 56-year-old female victim at her car which was parked at Harway Avenue and Bay 41st Street on December 29, at approximately 7:55pm. Berrian repeatedly pummeled the woman, demanding her keys and money, causing her to fall back into her car, while Hodges went through her purse. During the struggle, the woman dropped her car keys and Hodges snatched them away. The pair then shoved the victim into the back seat of the vehicle and began to drive, refusing to release her until she handed over money and credit cards. They eventually let the victim out at Cropsey Avenue and 26th Avenue, according to arraignment documents.

The suspects then made off in the woman’s blue Honda, as well as her purse, credit cards, an iPhone, a blackberry phone and two laptop computers, taking the Belt Parkway to East New York, where credit card tracking placed them at a White Castle and gas station there, according to police sources. The couple ended up crashing the vehicle in Flushing, Queens on January 1, and pulled the same stunt on an 87-year-old man, this time driving off with a red Chevrolet Cobalt.

On January 2, shots were fired in Bedford Stuyvesant, and officers witnessed a red Chevy Cobalt fleeing the scene, according to police. Cops pursued the duo and arrested them.

Officers from the 62nd Precinct say they obtained confessions from both suspects. The nature of the Hodge’s relationship to Berrian is unclear and still under investigation, but police believe she may have been trafficked for prostitution.

Both were arraigned Tuesday on numerous counts of menacing, robbery, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, grand larceny, reckless endangerment, possession of stolen property, fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle, and other charges, according to prosecutors.

The victim was treated at a nearby hospital for a broken nose, fractured cheekbones, lacerations to her lips, and bruising to her face.  She is expected to undergo nasal surgery this week to repair nasal fractures, according to the DA.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind issued a press release this week notifying the public of this incident and another recent carjacking in Kensington, describing a “rampant spate of violence,” and urging neighbors to be vigilant about their surroundings.

“We have to unite as a community, we cannot tackle this alone,” said Hikind. “Everyone needs to do their due diligence in reporting criminal activity. Let’s give our police force and our Shomrim all of the help they need to catch these criminals for these heinous crimes.”

The NYPD’s 62nd Precinct Commanding Officer Anthony Sanseverino, who said he met the victim and her family, disagreed with Hikind’s characterization of the situation, telling us he believes the carjacking was an isolated incident and not indicative of a rise in crime.

“Thank God, this is not something that happens on a regular basis in our precinct,” said Sanseverino.