A Queens man accused of pushing his ex to the floor while trying to get back the $28,000 engagement ring he bought her was slapped with a restraining order — and he couldn’t be happier about it, his lawyer said Thursday.
Carlos Lora Diaz, 38, and his sister, Lucie Lora, 34, were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on charges of attempted robbery and attempted grand larceny days after Lora Diaz’ former fiancee told cops the siblings knocked her down in a dispute over the ring.
“We are very happy to have the order of protection here because my client agrees that he should have absolutely nothing to do with this woman ever again in his life,” Lora Diaz’ lawyer, James Neville, said in court.
“I told my client,” Neville told the Daily News later outside court, “and I hope you quote this accurately, that after the case is over and there is no more order of protection my client should send this woman a fruit basket as a thank you, because to not marry her was the best thing ever.”
Police said the brother and sister argued with Lora Diaz’s ex on April 24 while returning some possessions to the Jackson Heights apartment the couple had shared near 32nd Ave. and 90th St.
The couple recently broke up, prompting a dispute about getting back the 34-year-old victim’s ring, officials said.
“Take the ring,” Lora barked, according to prosecutors and her brother then allegedly knocked the victim to the ground in an attempt to snatch the ring off his ex’s hand.
The victim suffered “bleeding, redness and swelling to her hand and substantial pain to her hip,” Queens Assistant District Attorney Isabelle Dudek said in court.
The siblings left without the ring, which Neville valued at $28,000.
Neville agreed that Lora Diaz wanted the ring back and that he grabbed the woman’s hand but claimed that is as far as it went.
“He did not throw her to the floor,” Neville told the judge. “She, the complainant, threw herself on the floor.”
Lora Diaz later surrendered to police. His sister was picked up by cops only after they released a wanted poster showing her wearing a tight-fitting revealing top. She wore a baggy sweatsuit in court and cried after the proceeding.
Despite a bail request from prosecutors, the siblings were freed without bail for now, Lora on her own recognizance and her brother on supervised release.
Lora has no prior arrests while her brother has one previous misdemeanor conviction.
Originally Published: May 1, 2025 at 4:25 PM EDT
