Messenger slashes doorman
A doorman for the Soho Grand Hotel was assaulted by a bike messenger after arguing that the man could not tie his bike to a tree on Tuesday. What began as a verbal altercation escalated and ultimately sent 42-year-old Martin Small to St. Vincent’s Hospital with a slash on his arm, according to police.
“They argued for a while and then the messenger attacked the guy,” said a witness who was across the street from the hotel. An officer at the scene was unsure whether a knife was used. He suggested that it might have been a key. The suspect had sped away on his bicycle before officers arrived at the scene, and the search for him is ongoing.
Heart breaking theft
A thief who made his way to the sixth floor of Borough of Manhattan Community College shortly after noon on Sat. June 2 stole a defibrillator machine from its niche on the wall, police said. Ed Moss, B.M.C.C.’s director of public safety, said it will cost about $1,500 to $2,000 to replace the defibrillator. The stolen device has been temporarily replaced until a new one is purchased.
Student mugged
A student at the High School for Economics and Finance, 100 Trinity Pl., was on the sidewalk in front of the school shortly after 3 p.m. on Mon. June 4 when an unknown teenager demanded his cell phone, pushed him against a wall and fled with the phone when it fell out of the victim’s pocket, police said. The suspect was described as a black male about 15 years old, 5’5” tall, weighing about 150 pounds and wearing blue shorts and a white tank top shirt. School officials declined to comment.
Gardener stoned
A Soho resident who was tending what she called her “Pirate Garden” on a narrow 60 ft. long strip behind a retaining wall on Sullivan St. between Spring and Broome Sts. on Sunday afternoon May 24, had a stone thrown at her by one of five teenagers who apparently resented what they considered an intrusion into their skateboarding site. The victim, Lynn Vaag, who said she was shocked more than hurt when hit by the missile, added that she was really saddened by the subsequent damaging of the only rosebush in the garden. She reported the incident to police at the First Precinct.
Soho break-in
The manager of Aroma Espresso Bar at 145 Greene St. at Houston St. told police that a couple of burglars broke into the place through a side door sometime between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. Mon. June 4 and made off with $7,000 in cash. The in-house surveillance camera recorded the image of two burglars, police said.
Cell phone caper
First Precinct detectives on Mon. June 4 began investigating unauthorized calls on a cell phone that the owner lost while shopping in a store at 503 Broadway between Broome and Spring Sts. The victim went online to find out what calls had been made from the lost phone and discovered that the thief replaced the victim’s address book numbers with his own. The victim then phoned the new numbers but the people answering refused to say who had called them, police said.
Truck break-in
The driver of a Verizon truck who parked in front of 111 Fulton St. near Nassau St. on Wednesday morning May 23 returned at 11:15 a.m. to find that a thief had popped the lock on a side sliding door and stolen two laptop computers, various tools and electronic equipment, police said.
Bag stolen
A woman patron of the Cipriani Restaurant at 376 W. Broadway between Broome and Spring Sts. told police she had left her bag for a moment on a bench in the restaurant at about 1:30 a.m. Wed. May 23 and found it missing when she returned a few minutes later. The victim, 22, a Manhattan resident, recalled that an unidentified woman had come and sat next to her on the bench while she was talking to a friend. The woman was gone when the victim returned to find the bag missing with her cell phone, credit and ID cards and $830 in cash.
Stolen watch reported
A guest from San Francisco at the Soho Grand Hotel, 310 W. Broadway, told hotel management that he left a watch valued at $5,688 on a night table in his room at about 5 a.m. Sun. May 20 and discovered at 8:30 a.m. that it was gone, police said. The visitor, 26, said a room service waiter had delivered a food order and left it on the table at 5:30 a.m. while he was watching television. The hotel sent a staff member to the room to help search for the watch and the waiter was interviewed but no watch was recovered, police said.
Lock the locker
A patron of New York Sports Club at 217 Broadway near Vesey St. left his locker unlocked during his Tuesday evening workout on May 22 and discovered when he returned to it at 5:40 p.m. that someone had stolen his credit cards, $50 in cash and a Gucci money clip valued at $300, police said.
Home assault
The resident of an apartment at 295 Greenwich St. just south of Chambers St. called police at about 2:25 a.m. Mon. June 4 and said his girlfriend hit him in the face with a wooden stick during a drunken argument. The woman was arrested and charged with assault.
— Albert Amateau and Joe Orovic
