‘His whole refrigerator was filled with duck sauce,’ a police source told the New York Daily News. ‘And other condiments.’
‘He’s a hoarder. And when you open the refrigerator, it’s like, condiments – there’s duck sauce, soy sauce, ketchup.’
The source suggested the piles of condiments at his apartment on 141st Street in Jamaica are all a part of what was going on in Hirsch’s brain to lead him to kill.
‘I guess in some pathology people like that take that stuff very seriously – you didn’t give him enough duck sauce,’ they said.
Hirsch has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail despite having nine prior arrests on his record.
He has not yet been charged with a hate crime in the case, which some protesters outside Queens Supreme Court Tuesday found to be a source of contention.
The marchers carried signs implying that police failed to protect Yan, as well as photos of the victim and a sign that read: ‘This was a HATE CRIME.’ Don’t dismiss it.’
Protests against gun violence and anti-Asian discrimination also took place.
Yan, a father of three who moved to New York more than two decades ago, was shot in the chest while doing delivery rounds on his scooter in Forest Hills, Queens, according to cops.
Yan and Hirsch, who was believed to be driving an older model Lexus RX3 SV at the time of the shooting, exchanged a few words at a traffic light before Yan was shot near 108th Street and 67th Drive, in a normally quiet and close-knit neighborhood.
Hirsch fled the scene, according to a witness who was nearby. Hirsch was caught on surveillance footage pacing around the restaurant for about an hour the night of the shooting before following Yan, according to cops.
Hirsch’s lawyer, Michael Horn, told DailyMail.com that after the grand jury hearing last Wednesday, a warrant was issued for his arrest. The Queens District Attorney’s office, on the other hand, ‘decided not to honor my professional courtesy to bring [Hirsch] in whenever possible, where necessary, and they basically broke down his door last night and forced their way to a scared man who doesn’t know what’s going on,’ he added.
Yan had been working at the Great Wall restaurant for more than a decade before his death, according to 53-year-old employee Kai Yang of the New York Daily News. Yan worked seven days a week and held three jobs to support his family.
Hirsch, according to the outlet, has a lengthy criminal record. Between 1995 and 2012, he was arrested nine times, but none of them are public because they are sealed. According to police sources, one of the arrests is related to Hirsch committing a robbery with a gun.
‘They’re irrelevant,’ Horn said. We all know that accusations are meaningless unless they are supported by evidence… The District Attorney is trying to cram as much garnish as possible into what I consider to be a thin case in order to make the sandwich appear larger.’
Hirsch had’multiple’ disputes with staff at the eatery, according to a restaurant employee, Soi Chung, 70, who told DailyMail.com that Hirsch pulled a gun on staffers during one incident in January.
An angry customer became enraged over the amount of duck sauce given to him in one of his orders last year, according to Chung, prompting a campaign of harassment, vandalism, and threats from the customer.
The most blatant threat from a customer, according to Chung, came earlier this year when Hirsch menacingly waved a gun at restaurant employees, prompting them to dial 911.
According to restaurant owner Kai Yang, the enraged customer was thrown to the ground by employees, including Yan, shortly after he entered with the firearm.
‘If my client had an argument with the manager, then why is he fighting or assaulting a delivery guy who everyone seems to like?’ Horn said on Thursday. ‘Nothing was delivered.’
Meanwhile, Yan leaves behind a wife and three children, aged two, 12, and 14.
‘This was a father of three children working three jobs – all food delivery,’ Yan’s nephew, who identified himself as Michael, said during a presser in April held outside the family’s home in neighboring Middle Village.
‘He came here in 2001,’ the relative went on. ‘He has been in this country over 20 years.’
He added: ‘It’s unacceptable that this happened. This is a very peaceful community. This never happened, this kind of issue.’
Despite Yan’s colleagues’ claims concerning Hirsch’s threatening behavior, it is currently unclear if the delivery man was a specific target.
A GoFundMe page was created by Kunying Zhao – Yan’s wife.
‘I’m starting a fundraiser for my husband because he passed away last night,’ Zhao wrote on May 1. ‘He was a hardworking delivery man and always provided for his family.’
The page surpassed its initial goal of $100,000, raising $212,799 as of Wednesday morning.