12 Yrs. For Shooting Smoke Shop Clerk In Nassau: Prosecutors

MINEOLA, NY — A Queens man was sentenced on Monday to 12 years in prison for shooting a clerk at an Oceanside smoke shop during a 2022 robbery, prosecutors said.

Yunus Irwan, 21, pleaded guilty on March 4 to second-degree attempted murder.

"During a botched robbery attempt, this defendant pulled a gun and fired point-blank into a store clerk’s chest, nearly killing him," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. "The employee was hospitalized for several weeks and underwent multiple surgeries, removing a piece of his lung which continues to impact his ability to breathe."

"Mr. Irwan has expressed significant remorse for the injuries he inflicted on the victim in this case. He cannot undo his prior actions, but he hopes a life free of the influence of drugs, as well as the influence of his co-defendant, will allow him, upon his release from prison, to make up for the harm he caused," Irwan's attorney Joseph Lo Piccolo said.

According to the charges, on the afternoon of March 6, 2022, Irwan entered "Da Smoke Spot" on Merrick Road in Oceanside, intending to rob the store.

Irwan approached the store clerk and engaged him in conversation. As the clerk walked toward the back of the store, Irwan followed him, pulling out a semi-automatic firearm, Donnelly said.

When the clerk turned around, he was shot multiple times. The victim was shot in chest, suffered damage to his lung and permanent mobility loss in his left land, the D.A.'s office said.

While fleeing the store after the shooting, Irwan touched a glass display case leaving behind a fingerprint, which later identified him as the shooter, Donnelly said.

A co-defendant, Jennifer Crespin-Gomes, 22, of Queens, previously pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, and was sentenced to five years in prison.