The Queens woman married to the man accused of killing a delivery worker after months of threatening the eatery because of a quarrel over a condiment was indicted on weapons charges for the discovery of a closet full of illegal guns during a court-authorized search of her home, prosecutors said Friday.
Investigators conducted a search of the woman's Briarwood home back in June following charges filed against her late husband, Glenn Hirsch, who pleaded not to murder, weapon possession, menacing and other charges in Zhiwen Yan's death. Hirsch was found dead almost one month ago of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, sources said.
Police recovered a note reportedly left by Hirsch that maintained his innocence in killing of Yan, 45, who was gunned down on a Queens street April 30, while riding a scooter to make a delivery.
Dorothy Hirsch, 61, was indicted by a grand jury after eight weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found inside her apartment following a court-authorized search of the residence in connection to the delivery worker's slaying. Eight unregistered firearms, six of them semi-automatic, were allegedly found inside a closet.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Queens County District Attorney Melinda Katz said the 61-year-old is the sole owner of the residence.
“These deadly guns, which were recovered in an apartment that she alone owns and occupies, pose an inherent danger to countless nearby residents and the community at large," Katz said in a statement.
News
Yan worked for more than a decade for Great Wall, a Chinese restaurant where Hirsch felt he didn’t get enough duck sauce with an order in November, prosecutors said. He was given more of the sweet-and-sour condiment but demanded a refund and called police when he didn’t get one, according to prosecutors.
Authorities say that over the months that followed, Hirsch damaged a Great Wall worker’s car, made threatening remarks to employees, including Yan, and pulled a gun on one of them.
On April 30, surveillance cameras captured Hirsch driving by Great Wall seven times in about two hours and then following Yan, according to prosecutors.
Attorney information for Dorothy Hirsch was not immediately available. After his arrest, Glenn Hirsch's lawyer said police "arrested the wrong man."
