Volume 17 • Issue 17 | SEPTEMBER 17 – 23, 2004
Police Blotter
Garbage truck hits woman
A city sanitation truck struck and critically injured a woman on Fri. Sept. 10 as she was crossing Broadway at Reade St., police said. The victim, identified only as a 59-year old street vendor of leather wallets and jade novelty items, was taken to NYU Downtown Hospital shortly after 12:30 p.m. The driver of the sanitation truck was issued a summons for failing to yield to a pedestrian in the crosswalk, police said.
N.Y.U. death probe
The investigation into the Sept 1 death of Spencer Kimbrough, 19, an acting student at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, was still pending on Sept. 16, according to a spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s office.
Kimbrough died at NYU Downtown Hospital after complaining at 12:20 a.m. of stomach pains at his N.Y.U. residence at 80 Lafayette St.
Kimbrough’s family last week hired Johnnie Cochran’s law firm to investigate the circumstances of the case and the university’s response, but no lawsuit is planned at this time, according to the victim’s mother, Valerie Kimbrough
Five days after his death, the victim’s mother said doctors had told her that Spencer told them he had smoked marijuana and had been drinking before the stomach cramps attack. She said her son was known for being anti-drug and contended that Spencer’s dorm room had not been sealed after his death, as N.Y.U. had promised it would be, to ensure a proper investigation.
The Washington Sq. News, the undergraduate newspaper, quoted a friend of the victim saying Kimbrough had not been drinking. The paper also said that John Beckman, N.Y.U. spokesperson, had said last week that the victim’s friend had entered the room to clean it after Kimbrough had thrown up.
River rescue
The crew of a police harbor launch rescued an unidentified man who was floundering in the Hudson River near the Battery Park City North Cove around 11 a.m. Sat. Sept. 11. Police said they had to restrain the man because he became violent after they brought him aboard the launch. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment and observation.
A.T.M. arrest
A man had just withdrawn $500 from his account at the A.T.M. in a bank branch at 270 Broadway at 7:35 p.m. on Wed. Sept 15 when a stranger in the vestibule snatched the money out of his hand, police said. The victim grabbed the suspect and held him until police arrived. Alan Reid, 19, was arrested and charged with attempted robbery.
Moving experience
A woman who left open the door to her apartment open to allow movers to deliver several items on Wednesday afternoon Sept 15 told police that a wallet with $1,000 plus credit cards was stolen from her home at 80 Warren St. Police said the movers remembered seeing someone described only as a black man wearing a dark coat and a watch cap enter the apartment.
Motorcycle gone
A man who parked his 2004 Honda motorcycle at the corner of N. Moore and Greenwich Sts. found it missing when he returned at 12:30 p.m. Mon. Sept. 13, police said.
Wallet taken
A woman customer at the Circa Tabac smoker’s lounge at 32 Watts St. who had been sitting at a table next to an open window on Sat. Sept. 11 found that her wallet, with I.D. and credit cards, was missing from her bag at 8:30 p.m. when she was about to leave, police said.
Bad directions
A woman told police a man approached her on Thursday afternoon Sept. 9 at the corner of Barclay St. and W. Broadway and asked for directions. A second man stopped and offered his advice. After they left, she discovered her wallet, with credit cards and personal papers, had been lifted. Both suspects were described only as Hispanic men.
Stolen from car
A man who parked his car in the Millenium Hilton garage at 55 Church St. returned at 5 p.m. Fri Sept. 3 and found that medical equipment valued at $1,900 was missing, police said.
—Albert Amateau
WWW Downtown Express
