A Brooklyn man was sentenced Wednesday to 38 years in prison for a series of violent attacks against his former girlfriend, including a brutal stabbing at her Downtown Brooklyn workplace that nearly claimed her life.
Rakien Figueroa, 43, also known as Rakeem Figueroa, was convicted in March on multiple charges—including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and second-degree burglary—following a jury trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Prosecutors said Figueroa carried out a pattern of violent assaults against the 39-year-old woman over several weeks in late 2022 and early 2023, leaving her with “devastating physical and emotional injuries,” according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
“This defendant carried out a campaign of terror against a woman who once cared for him,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “With this sentence, he’s being held accountable and will no longer pose a threat to her or anyone else.”
The first known attack occurred on Dec. 2, 2022, when Figueroa confronted the woman outside her restaurant job near Jay and Fulton streets. After an argument, he “slashed the victim’s face with a box cutter,” causing an eight-inch wound that required reconstructive surgery and resulted in “significant nerve and gland damage,” prosecutors said.
Figueroa fled the scene and removed a federal ankle monitor he had been ordered to wear. Two days later, he appeared at the woman’s apartment in New Jersey. Authorities said he had been hiding in her closet and ambushed her and her sister when they returned.
“The defendant pushed the victim to the ground and pressed his boot against her neck, causing her to have difficulty breathing, and threatened her life,” the statement said, citing evidence presented at trial.
The violence escalated again on Jan. 10, 2023, when Figueroa forced his way into a CAVA restaurant. Investigators said he used a rock to shatter the glass front door before barging in and repeatedly stabbing the woman. She sustained multiple stab wounds to her “neck, face, back, arm and kidney,” requiring several days in the surgical intensive care unit.
Figueroa fled once more but was found on Jan. 17 hiding in a relative’s closet. He was taken into custody by NYPD detectives and U.S. Marshals.
