HVAC Worker Puts Mercury In Complaining Customer's AC: DA

REGO PARK, QUEENS -- A Rego Park HVAC business owner who grew tired of his customer's complaints about a faulty air conditioner got his revenge by installing a new cooling unit laced with poisonous mercury, prosecutors said.

Yuriy Kruk, 48, is accused of adding the mercury to a new AC unit he installed in the Jamaica Estates home of Roman Pinkhasov, who'd hired Kruk's company - A + HVAC and Kitchen Corporation - to do heating, ventilation and air conditioning work in 2015, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Wednesday.

Pinkhasov persistently complained that his second-floor AC unit wasn't working properly until Kruk told the system couldn't be fixed and would instead be replaced that July with a brand new cooling unit, according to the charges.

Not long after the new air conditioner was installed, Pikhasov's wife, Olga Yurgaueva, noticed drops of silver liquid on the floor. Pinkhasov months later found more of the silver substance in his vents and other parts of the home where Kruk had been working, the charges state.

The family then called 911, and firefighters from the city's Hazardous Materials Unit arrived to find even more mercury from the home's first-floor vent and other parts of the AC units on both floors, prosecutors said.

The couple and their son - who'd all complained of mercury poisoning symptoms including joint pain, headaches and lethargy - tested positive for above-normal mercury levels, the complaint states.

“Exposure to the element could prove fatal over time and did make the residents sick," Brown said. "Fortunately a family member spotted the chemical commonly referred to as quicksilver and alerted police.”

Krux was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Wednesday on charges of attempted assault and endangering public health, safety or the environment. He was released on a $10,000 bail and will return to court on July 30.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

“Every New Yorker should feel secure about the people they hire to work in their homes," said New York Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos.

"In this case, the victims were merely asking for a repair of their heating and air conditioning units, but instead found themselves fighting for their lives."

(Lead photo via Shutterstock)