NEW YORK — The condiment-obsessed suspect accused of shooting to death a beloved Queens Chinese food deliveryman could be freed on bail Monday, alarmed local legislators said Sunday.
While Glenn Hirsch was initially ordered held without bail for the April 30 killing of Zhiwen Yan, 45, in Forest Hills, Queens Criminal Court Judge Kenneth Holder changed the bail conditions on June 8, setting bail at $500,000, court records show.
Hirsch, who has 10 prior sealed arrests, has pleaded not guilty. His family is in the process of raising the hefty sum and may post bail on Monday if the presiding judge allows it, borough pols said.
“Granting bail would be the wrong decision and we hope that it does not happen,” Rep. Grace Meng, D-Queens, said Sunday. “Someone who is a clear and present danger should not be released back into the community that still grieves Zhiwen Yan’s death.”
Hirsch, 51, was busted June 2 on charges of shooting dead Yan after stalking the deliveryman and other workers at the Great Wall Restaurant for weeks over his demand for more duck sauce in what the Queens DA called an “obsessive point of contention.”
Police said the night of the murder Hirsch circled the block of the restaurant multiple times then followed Yan as he drove off on his scooter to make a delivery before shooting him on the street.
Detectives had been building a case against Hirsch ever since learning he had been involved in ongoing tensions with the manager at the Great Wall restaurant, starting last Nov. 30 when he was furious there wasn’t enough duck sauce for him to take home with his meal.
After Hirsch was indicted, police searched his apartment on 141st St. in Jamaica and found a refrigerator filled with duck sauce and soy sauce packets.
“He’s a hoarder,” a police source told the Daily News. “And when you open the refrigerator, it’s like, condiments — there’s duck sauce, soy sauce, ketchup.”
If Hirsch is released from jail he will not get his firearms back, police told Meng. Police will also be closely monitoring his movements so he doesn’t get close to the Great Wall restaurant.
“This rumored and reported development about bail is not welcomed,” Meng said. “It is terrifying and unsettling, and we resolutely oppose it. We will be closely watching what happens on Monday.”
Attempts to reach Hirsch’s attorney were unsuccessful Sunday.
———
