| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2026 Contact: Team Saritha Email: Press@SarithaForNewYork.com |
| KOMATIREDDY: ROSS FALZONE IS DEAD BECAUSE JAMES AND BRAGG BUILT A SYSTEM THAT RELEASES DANGEROUS MEN IN AN HOUR |
| NEW YORK – Crime-fighting New York State attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy today criticized Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for creating a criminal justice system so broken that 32-year-old Rhamell Burke — already arrested five times this year — was released onto the streets and killed a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher within five hours of his release. “Retired special ed teacher Ross Falzone, 76, is dead because New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg believe that not prosecuting criminal behavior is somehow an act of justice. DA Bragg’s office processed every one of Mr. Burke’s prior arrests. And yet this dangerous criminal — who has committed multiple acts of violence against civilians and police officers this year — was released back onto our streets over and over again. AG James, a progressive ally of DA Bragg, supports this nonsense and refuses to step in as career criminals put innocent New Yorkers at risk.” Mr. Burke has been arrested five times in the last three months. Each time, he was released. On February 2, Mr. Burke stole from a Duane Reade at One World Trade Center and assaulted three Port Authority police officers, leaving them with cuts and shoulder injuries. He was released. On February 14, Mr. Burke stole a shovel, smashed several train car doors at the Seventh Avenue and West 23rd Street subway station, and threw a trash can onto the tracks, which later caused one train to go out of service. He was released. He failed to come to court and a bench warrant was issued; after he appeared at the next court date, he was released again. On February 25, Mr. Burke went into a subway train with a large kitchen knife, a crack pipe, and a syringe with narcotics, and laid down on a subway bench taking up multiple seats on a C train. He held onto a train pole and kicked police officers as they tried to cuff him. He was released. On April 2, Mr. Burke assaulted a 23-year-old woman in the subway, yanking her by the back of her head in an attempt to slam her to the ground and kicking another individual in the back. He was released. On May 7, Mr. Burke approached police officers outside the 17th Precinct stationhouse with a stick he had pulled from a pile of garbage. The police arrested him and took him to Bellevue’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program. He was admitted at approximately 3:30 p.m. At approximately 4:40 p.m., he was released. At approximately 9:30 p.m. that night — still wearing his Bellevue psychiatric wristband — Mr. Burke shoved Ross Falzone, a beloved retired Manhattan high school teacher, down a staircase at the 18th Street subway station in Chelsea. Mr. Falzone died of a traumatic brain injury, a fractured spine, and a fractured rib at the same hospital that had released his killer hours earlier. On Friday morning, May 8, after the attack on Mr. Falzone, Mr. Burke appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court for a hearing on a previous case. He was released again. “Based on his criminal history, Mr. Burke should have been charged with felonies and detained in jail long before his encounter with Mr. Falzone. Instead, AG James and DA Bragg gave him a free pass, and an innocent New Yorker is dead because of it,” said Ms. Komatireddy. “When I am Attorney General, I will put an end to these pro-criminal policies, override DAs who fail to charge violent criminals appropriately and allow these criminals to be released onto the streets, and return common sense to our criminal justice system. Repeat offenders should be arrested, imprisoned, and banned from our subways. It’s that simple.” |
| To learn more about Saritha Komatireddy’s campaign for New York Attorney General, visit SarithaForNewYork.com. |