He’s a Greenpoint goon who just won’t go away.
A 33-year-old vagrant with a lengthy rap sheet has been the bane of a Brooklyn neighborhood for nearly a decade, with complaints of shoplifting, slugging women and threatening local merchants at will – and yet he remains free to continue to wreak havoc.
Registered sex offender Christopher Boissard has been such a long-running menace in Greenpoint that one shop owner keeps a metal rod handy so he can chase him away when he shows up at the door.
“The rod is especially for this guy,” neighborhood bodega owner Babu Davnath said. “He comes in the store screaming and tries to hit people. Everybody’s scared of this guy.
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The NYPD says Boissard has been arrested by cops a dozen times since 2022 alone and sent to court for arraignment every time — only to be released.
In all, he has been busted 39 times since 2011 on charges that have ranged from assault to robbery to criminal mischief, records show — and has two dozen incidents where he was listed as an emotionally disturbed person.
According to court records, Boissard, who was registered as a level 3 sex offender after he was convicted of molesting a 19-year-old woman in 2021, is “deaf and mute” and does not know sign language, making it difficult to communicate.
As a result, he’s fallen through the cracks of the system.
His arrests have typically only risen to the level of misdemeanors, which carry a maximum sentence of one year at Rikers Island — which means he has always been able to dodge more serious prison time.
In addition, sources said Boissard was been deemed unfit for trial after court-ordered psychiatric exams as recently as last year, which, by law, required prosecutors to drop the misdemeanor cases against him.
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Had he been charged with felonies, the charges would have stuck until he underwent treatment and was determined to be fit enough to stand trial and face the charges.
“Every resident in our city deserves to live in safety and peace,” a spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said in a statement to The Post on Monday. “This individual, who suffers from numerous illnesses, received court-ordered services through the years.”
“Unfortunately, those services are no longer available to him,” the statement said. “It is now necessary for the city to step up and offer him the assistance he clearly needs.”
Court records show his troubling criminal history predates his 2021 sex assault rap by several years.
Boissard was charged with sneaking up behind a woman he didn’t know on Jan. 23, 2017, “slammed her against a wall” and groped her, according to a 2022 state Appellate Division review of the cases.
The woman called 911, and cops later found he had two switchblades on him, the records show.
A few days later, on Feb. 3, 2017, Boissard was back on the street and spotted the woman from across the street, and “ran toward her, stopped and stared at her,” but took off before cops arrived at the scene, according to the document.
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In May 2018, Boissard “relapsed and was expelled” from the Atlanta program, but was allowed to “restart the year of treatment” in Rochester, the appellate ruling said.
Despite not fully finishing the court-ordered treatment, he was eventually sentenced to jail time he had already served behind bars and was released — and was free to assault the 19-year-old woman that landed him on the sex offender registry on July 4, 2021, according to the court records.
Back on the streets, he continues to be a constant menace in Greenpoint, locals said.
“He’s always looking for trouble,” said William Rodrigues, who runs Franchesa Mini Mart on Manhattan Avenue. “He hits ladies. He is very dangerous for ladies.
“He gets arrested and then let back out, sometimes on the same day,” Rodrigues said. “Without drugs and alcohol — the days he’s sober — he’s nice enough. He has a good heart but with drugs and alcohol, he becomes crazy.
“The whole neighborhood recognizes him because he bothers everyone,” he added.
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One 43-year-old woman said Boissard chased her down the street with clenched fists in November 2022, forcing her to cancel a scheduled invitro fertilization appointment.
“I saw him running after me with his fists clenched,” the woman wrote. “I had to run across the street to get away from him. I was so terrified, I started to cry.
“The police took a statement but nothing ever happened,” she said. “I have not been there again. I don’t go to eat around that part of Greenpoint anymore, I get takeout.”
A nearby liquor store worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said Boissard grew up in the neighborhood and now lives in the area with his father.
“He’s lived around here his whole life,” the man said. “Occasionally they come, pick him up and take him to Woodhull [psychiatric hospital].”
Samuel Soto, 65, who lives on Manhattan Avenue, said Boissard groped his wife eight years ago.
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“But now he respects me and when he see my wife coming he looks the other way,” he said. “He’s a good kid and his parents seem nice but he’s got a drinking problem. He should be in a place where they can look after him, where he can’t cause trouble, where he can’t touch anyone.”
he Post has reached out to Boissard’s family for comment.
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2024/03/18/us-news/violent-vagrant-has-terrorized-nyc-neighborhood-for-a-decade-but-somehow-remains-free/amp/
