A Brooklyn man on July 24 was sentenced to 38 years in prison for violently attacking his former girlfriend, causing serious injuries including a slashing to her face and multiple stab wounds at her workplace in Downtown Brooklyn.
Rakien “Rakeem” Figueroa, 43, of East New York, was convicted March 24 of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, second-degree burglary and second-degree assault following a jury trial, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
According to court records, the attacks began Dec. 2, 2022, when Figueroa and the 39-year-old victim argued near Jay and Fulton Streets. Figueroa slashed the victim’s face with a box cutter, causing an eight-inch laceration that required reconstructive surgery and caused nerve and gland damage.
Two days later Figueroa removed an ankle monitor he was required to wear under federal supervision and hid inside the victim’s New Jersey apartment closet. When the victim and her sister arrived, he jumped out with a hammer, pushed the victim to the ground, pressed his boot against her neck and threatened her life.
On Jan. 10, 2023, Figueroa attacked the victim again at her workplace, a CAVA restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn. He smashed the glass front door with a rock, forced his way inside and stabbed her multiple times. The victim sustained life-threatening wounds to her neck, face, arm, back and kidney and was monitored in the surgical intensive care unit for about three days.
"His brutal and repeated violence showed a complete disregard for her life and for the law," Gonzalez said in a statement.
