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Dorothy Hirsch, the 62-year-old wife of the man accused of gunning down a New York City Chinese food deliveryman amid an ongoing dispute with the restaurant over duck sauce, was arrested on Monday after police found eight guns and more than 200 rounds of ammunition hidden in her Queens apartment, according to a report.
Police arrested the woman and charged her with gun possession after NYPD conducted a search warrant at her 84th Road apartment where she maintains a separate residence from her husband, New York Daily News reported. Her bail was initially set for $150,000.
Records show NYPD recovered a loaded 9mm semi-automatic with a clip containing nine rounds and a .38 caliber revolver containing 10 rounds from a box in a back closet.
Authorities discovered a second 9mm and a .45 caliber revolver in a bag in the same closet, according to police, while a .38 caliber revolver, a .357 caliber revolver, a 9mm pistol, and a .25 caliber pistol were located in a black zippered pouch, which also contained the rest of the recovered ammunition.
Dorothy Hirsch’s lawyer, Mark Bederow, said that the woman — a registered nurse with no prior arrests — is “adamant” about her innocence and has refused to be used “as a pawn” in the case regarding her husband.
Her arrest came the same day her husband, 51-year-old Glenn Hirsch, was released for home confinement after brother Lee Hirsch posted the $500,000 bail. Glenn Hirsch has been charged in the April 30 murder of 45-year-old Zhiwen Yan, who was shot to death on his motorbike at an intersection in the upscale neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, while making deliveries for the Great Wall Restaurant.
Queens prosecutors said Glenn Hirsch, who has 10 prior sealed arrests, had held an “obsession point of contention” against the restaurant since Nov. 30, 2021, when he believed he had been swindled out of enough duck sauce for his meal. The restaurant manager reported that Glenn Hirsch had been harassing him and other workers for months, including during one incident in which Glenn Hirsch reportedly vandalized the manager’s car and showed up at the restaurant with a gun in January, New York Post reported.
For about an hour prior to Yan’s murder, police said surveillance video showed the suspect circling the restaurant and then driving his car following Yan before allegedly shooting him to death.
NYPD waited about a month to build their case before arresting Glenn Hirsch on June 2 on a warrant for murder and criminal possession of a loaded firearm at his apartment on 141st St. in Jamaica, where police found a refrigerator stuffed with packets of duck sauce, soy sauce, and ketchup, sources told Daily News. He has pleaded not guilty.
Before signing off on his release Monday, Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder ordered that Glenn Hirsch be fitted with an ankle monitor from the sheriff’s department and remain in his home 24 hours a day except to visit his lawyer, a doctor, court, and during one hour of exercise per day.
He is also prohibited from purchasing guns, and must remain at least a mile away from Grand Central Station, Pennsylvania Station, any PATH train, and all other major New York City ports of entry. He must also steer clear of Great Wall Restaurant, the restaurant’s delivery zone, and “the entire area encompassing the crime scene.”
Prosecutor Karen Ross said Glenn Hirsch has consented to DNA testing to determine if he’s a match for genetic material found on two of the eight guns recovered from his wife’s home.
The Post reported that the suspect, escorted by NYPD, arrived back at his Jamaica apartment at around 6:30 p.m. Monday. His brother posted bail with a certified check, but the money came from Glenn Hirsch himself, according to his lawyer, Michael Horn. Horn admitted his client was involved in a dispute with the restaurant but claims he had no involvement in Yan’s shooting death.
Though Glenn Hirsch was initially held without bond, court records show Holder changed bail conditions on June 8, setting $500,000 cash bail or a $10 million surety bond.
Originally from Fuzhou in Eastern China, Yan worked at the Queens restaurant for more than a decade and was the primary breadwinner for his wife and their three children aged 2, 12, and 14, family members and his grieving widow told local news outlets following his shocking killing.
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The incident rocked the once-perceived safe Forest Hills community that has been experiencing a rise in crime. Yan’s killing was the second homicide in 2022 for the precinct, which had not seen a homicide since 2016.
The first was the murder of Orsolya Gaal, a married mother of two whose body was found stuffed in a duffel bag on the street about a half-mile from her home in March. Her handyman and alleged ex-lover was later charged and accused of brutally stabbing her to death for not wanting to resume their affair.