Published On: Sat, May 2nd, 2026

50 cars, 100 people, 2 rings of fire: Second man arrested in Queens car takeover


A second man has been arrested in connection with the fiery, chaotic car takeover that drew dozens of vehicles and more than 100 people to a Queens intersection last month, the NYPD said Friday.

NYPD warrant officers arrested Winston Pat, 20, at his home in Hollis Hills on Friday morning and charged him with reckless endangerment, riot, criminal mischief, unlawful assembly and reckless driving, according to police. His attorney information was not immediately available, and he had not yet been arraigned as of Friday afternoon.

A police spokesperson said Pat was identified as the driver of a white BMW captured in a surveillance video from the takeover. The vehicle is seen in the video doing donuts amid a crowd of onlookers.

Pat is the second person arrested in connection with the April 18 gathering at Eliot Avenue and 69th Street in Maspeth. Police say in a criminal complaint against the first person that roughly 50 vehicles and more than 100 people blocked the roadway.

City Councilmember Phil Wong, who represents the district, said Friday that the takeovers are part of a roving subculture that moves across the city, often involving the same cars and drivers.

“They meet somewhere, either at the Maspeth warehouse area, and then they travel to [Councilmember] Vickie Paladino’s [Northeast Queens] district, and then they go to the South Bronx,” Wong said in an interview. “Sometimes they stop by Citi Field, and then they make a big circle and come back.”

That pattern played out the night of the Maspeth takeover, according to police officials and court records.

Around 12:30 a.m. the night of the meetup, Bryam Ortiz, 25, and Christopher DeJesus, 26, were observed pulling alongside each other at the intersection of 36th Avenue and 126th Street near Citi Field, then making U-turns and accelerating at high speed in what officers described as a speed contest, according to criminal complaints and officials.

Both were charged with reckless driving and speed contest violations. DeJesus was additionally charged with aggravated unlicensed operation; courts records show his license has been suspended 15 times. He pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance, court records show. His attorney did not return calls.

Ortiz’s case was not available in the court system as of Friday.

After police arrived at the Citi Field meetup, the gathering migrated west to the Maspeth intersection, where it grew far larger, according to police. Detectives later identified one of the alleged drivers there using a video posted to social media, according to a criminal complaint.

Court records depict a far larger and more dangerous scene at the Maspeth gathering than NYPD initially described. A blue Infiniti G37 drove in circles for about five minutes, leaving skid marks and emitting smoke and sparks, according to the complaint. It says numerous bystanders stood in the middle of the street recording video, and several individuals “were nearly struck by the blue Infiniti motor vehicle on multiple occasions.”

A person walked the intersection pouring liquid that ignited into a ring of fire, and people stood inside the flames as the Infiniti circled, the complaint states. A second ring of fire was lit afterward, with a silver vehicle driving around it, it states.

The complaint also alleges that someone in the crowd pushed a Department of Transportation barrier in front of an arriving patrol car before two people jumped on its hood and cracked the windshield.

Detectives identified Asil Assaidi, 22, of the Bronx, as the driver of the blue Infiniti and arrested him on April 23. He is charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony that requires depraved indifference to human life, along with riot, unlawful assembly, reckless driving, and driving without a license or insurance. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

Assaidi pleaded not guilty and was released without bail under non-monetary conditions, court records show. His attorney declined to comment. He is due back in court May 14.

Announcing Assaidi’s arraignment a day after his arrest, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that he “put countless people in peril as he recklessly drove on a fiery street near pedestrians and gas stations” and that the stunt “very easily could have ended in injuries and death.”

The arrests are the latest in a string of social media-fueled “takeovers” that have drawn large crowds across the city in recent months. Nearly 500 teens descended on the Mall at Bay Plaza in the Bronx on Presidents Day, leading to 18 arrests. A week later, a Washington Square Park snowball fight ended with police officers pelted and several arrests. In March, hundreds of teens swarmed Brooklyn Bridge Park after a social media callout, prompting police to shut down Pier 2.

Wong accused the NYPD of being reactive rather than proactive in handling the takeovers and said the department should be monitoring social media to intercept events before they begin.

“NYPD should have people monitoring the social media and track these events and stop them from happening before, rather than react to it afterwards,” Wong said.

The NYPD pushed back in a statement Friday, saying the meetups will not stop unless the criminal justice system imposes real consequences on participants. The department said it would continue to dedicate significant resources to stopping the events.

The NYPD said at least six other people involved in the Maspeth takeover remain at large. The investigation is ongoing.



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