Charged in 6 sex robberies
Police arrested a Queens man on First Ave. at E. 10th St. and charged him with a series of six sex abuse and robbery incidents in the East Village from July 7 until just before he was arrested at 5:10 a.m. Fri., Sept. 28.
Police said they were also investigating whether the suspect was involved in two other sex abuse and robbery incidents south of Houston St. during the same period.
The suspect, Luis Garcia-Ponce, 23, of Jamaica, was being held this week pending notice of grand jury action on cases involving women victims who were ambushed in their lobbies or on the street near their homes, assaulted, sexually abused and robbed.
Police said that in the suspect’s messenger bag they found a cell phone belonging to the sixth victim, who was attacked from behind on the street at 4:40 a.m. Fri., Sept. 28, on First Ave. at E. 10th St., knocked to the ground and robbed.
A half hour earlier, the fifth victim was attacked from behind in front of 515 E. 12th St. by a suspect who pressed his genitals to her back, grabbed her breast and fled, police said.
Police say they also found in the defendant’s bag a BlackBerry and credit cards belonging to the fourth victim who was attacked at about 4:40 a.m. Sat., Sept. 22 in the street in front of her building at E. Ninth St. near Avenue C.
The third victim told police she was followed into the vestibule of her building at E. 11th St. between Avenues A and B at 4:05 a.m. Fri., Sept. 21 by a suspect who threw her to the ground, tried to pull off her underwear, touched her thigh, demanded a kiss and kissed her lips and neck.
The second victim told police that a suspect followed her into the lobby of her building at E. 12th St. near Avenue A at about 4:20 a.m. Fri., July 13, put her in a chokehold, pressed her to the floor, kissed her and put his finger in her vagina, took her money and fled.
The first victim was followed into the lobby of her building on First Ave. between 13th and 14th Sts. at about 3:45 a.m. Sat., July 7 by a suspect who grabbed her breast and her crotch and fled.
Battery rescue
Firefighters from Engine 10 on Liberty St., responding to a call at 3 a.m. Tues., Oct. 2, pulled a woman to safety after she had fallen into the water off Battery Park, a Fire Department spokesperson said. Firefighter David Cirillo, two years in the department, dove into the water and, guided by a firefighter on shore with a spotlight, reached the victim, who had been swept more that 200 ft. from the shore. Both were picked up by the Marine Unit 1 fireboat. It was unclear how the victim, whose name was not revealed, came to be in the water.
The rescue was not too far from an in-water statue of a marine rescue, which honors merchant sailors lost at sea.
Soho burglary
Jarrod Beinerman and James Jimenez, both 33, pleaded not guilty on Mon. Oct. 1 to an Aug. 9 burglary of a penthouse suite in the Soho Grand on W. Broadway and Grand St. The defendants were charged with taking a bag with a wallet, ID and credit cards of a guest who was out at the time. A New York Daily News item said the guest whose bag was taken was Kirsten Dunst, the lead actress in the “Spiderman” film series.
Arson arrest
Police arrested Mark Jones on Fri., Sept. 28 on a charge of arson for setting fire to the door of his mother’s apartment on Allen St. near Stanton St. on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 15. Jones, 20, was charged with second degree arson and was being held pending an Oct. 15 court date.
Harassed on Chambers
A woman walking west on Chambers St. at 12:30 a.m. Thurs., Sept. 27 was confronted by a man walking in the opposite direction who tried to stop her by blocking her path and then grabbing her by the arm. The woman, 26, shouted and ran to a brightly lighted doorway at Greenwich St. and the man did not follow. He was described as a black man with a dark complexion, about 6’3,” heavy-set and wearing a blue baseball cap set off to the side. The woman did not report the incident to police.
— Albert Amateau
