Brooklyn Man Charged in Violent Home Invasion, Assault on Elderly Queens Couple: DA

A Brooklyn man has been charged in a brutal attack on an elderly Queens couple during a home invasion robbery last April that left the homeowners with serious, lasting injuries, prosecutors say.  

Vincente Barzola, 39, was arraigned on burglary, robbery and assault charges Friday, the Queens district attorney said. He has been ordered held without bail pending his next court date Jan. 30. 

According to the criminal complaint, Barzola, along with another suspect, went to the victims' Bay Terrace home the afternoon of April 23, 2014, rang the bell and told the elderly woman who answered the door they were from the co-op's maintenance department and needed her signature on a form. 

When Sofia Dima, then 85, unlocked the door, the pair allegedly stormed in and Barzola punched her in the face, knocked her to the floor and pushed his foot into her chest, the complaint said. He then choked her until she lost consciousness, and when she awoke, her home had been ransacked and her chest covered in blood.

Dima, despite having her hands tied with zip ties, managed to get up and alert a neighbor, who called police, prosecutors said. 

The other suspect, Christopher Ramirez of Corona, Queens, was previously arrested in June 2014. He had allegedly gone upstairs and found 87-year-old John Dima asleep in bed, then yanked him to the floor and punched him in the head and face before tying up his hands and pepper-spraying him, prosecutors said. 

The suspects then removed a safe containing more than $15,000 in cash, along with gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. 

The elderly couple was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries and spent five days there, including time in intensive care, according to prosecutors. 

Sofia Dima suffered facial fractures, bruising and tenderness to her neck, and John Dima now has to use a cane to walk as a result of the injuries he sustained in the attack, prosecutors said. 

Ramirez remains in jail on $100,00 bond since his arraignment last year. He's also next due in court on Jan. 30.

Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately available. 

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