A Queens jury convicted a Sheepshead Bay man on seven counts, including first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and first-degree sexual abuse, for a brutal gunpoint attack on a 55-year-old masseuse inside an Astoria spa in 2024. Tahir Toloa, 38, who lives on East 18th Street in Sheepshead Bay, now faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced next month.
According to the Office of the District Attorney Queens County, Toloa walked into the spa on Newtown Avenue at around 9 p.m. on May 13, 2024, wearing a ski mask and asking for a massage. As reported by QNS, the victim opened the door for him, collected the massage fee, and directed him to a massage room before he turned violent, dragging her by her hair and arms to the back of the spa.
Toloa then pulled a gun, forced the victim to open the register at gunpoint, and removed $3,000, per QNS. He pistol-whipped and punched her, causing deep lacerations and bruising to her head, scalp and face, and threw a camera near the register to the ground to destroy it, the outlet reports.
A Desperate Escape Through a Second-Story Window
The attack escalated further when Toloa pulled down the victim's pants at gunpoint and repeatedly touched her exposed buttocks, according to QNS. The Office of the District Attorney Queens County states that Toloa then forced the victim into the spa's bathroom, telling her to stay put, but she barricaded the door and jumped out of the second-story window onto the concrete floor below to escape.
The fall left her with a broken leg, broken feet and broken vertebrae, and she was treated at a local hospital, per the district attorney's office. The dramatic escape became the pivotal moment prosecutors say allowed the victim to survive the encounter and eventually seek justice.
Arrested at His Own Parole Meeting
Toloa was not taken into custody until June 6, 2024, when he showed up at the 114th Precinct in Astoria for what QNS describes as a scheduled parole meeting, confirming he was on active state parole at the time of the attack. He was additionally charged with second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon and forcible touching, the outlet notes.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said, per QNS, that Toloa entered the spa under the pretense of wanting a massage and brutally beat the masseuse, sexually assaulted her, and stole $3,000 at gunpoint from the register. Katz called Toloa “a very dangerous individual” and thanked her prosecutors for securing the trial conviction, according to the same outlet.
Trial Timeline and Prosecution Team
Trial openings began September 2, and summations took place last Tuesday, September 15, according to QNS. The jury deliberated for one day before reaching its guilty verdict on all seven counts.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Erin Mullins of the DA's Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau alongside ADA Joseph Cunningham of Felony Trial Bureau 1, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michael Whitney and Deputy Chief Timothy Regan, per the district attorney's office. The case proceeded under Queens County Indictment No. 72443/2024, and court records show the Appellate Division, Second Department issued a ruling on a protective order application under CPL 245.70 in the case on November 14, 2025, according to the New York State Law Reporting Bureau.
Up to Life in Prison Under State Law
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis set sentencing for October 20, per QNS. Under New York Penal Law, First-Degree Assault and First-Degree Robbery are both Class B violent felonies, which carry sentences of up to 25 years for non-persistent offenders and up to life imprisonment for persistent violent felony offenders, the district attorney's office explains.
The case lands amid a mixed public safety picture in the 114th Precinct, which covers Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside and Jackson Heights. Overall major crime in the precinct declined more than 9% and felony assaults dropped 35% in early 2026 compared to the same period the year before, according to Patch, citing NYPD statistics. Yet reported sex crimes in the precinct surged during that same window, with rape reports rising roughly 40% year-over-year, the outlet reports.
That local spike mirrors a citywide trend. NYPD CompStat data through September 13 recorded 1,504 rapes across the five boroughs, a 3.2% increase over the same period in 2025, along with 3,839 other sex crimes, even as overall major felony crime citywide dropped 6.3% during the same stretch. Felony assaults citywide ticked up 1.1%, from 21,206 to 21,432, over the comparable period, per NYPD data.
