New Year’s shots A man, 23, and a woman, 29, were standing on Columbia St. in front of the Baruch Houses shortly before 1 a.m. New Year’s Day when shots were fired, hitting the woman in the stomach and the man in the leg. An unidentified gunman fired the shots for no apparent reason from the area in front of the Dewitt Reformed Church at 280 Rivington St., police said. The victims were taken to Bellevue in serious but stable condition.
It was one of three shootings on the Lower East Side during the first hours of 2008. Police have not said there is any connection between the crimes.
Passenger shot A man was shot in front of 484 E. Houston St. in the Lillian Wald Houses as he was getting out of a cab at 4:12 a.m. Tues., Jan. 1, police said. The victim phoned 911 on his cell phone and was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Bullets in Vladeck Police responded to a report of shots being fired at 5:12 a.m. Tues., Jan. 1 in front of 350 Madison St. in the Vladeck Houses complex and found an injured man who refused to say anything about the incident. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Drunk drivers Police at a D.W.I. checkpoint at the northeast corner of W. Houston and West Sts. arrested two drivers for driving while intoxicated 10 minutes apart during the early hours of Sat., Dec. 29. One man driving a black 2005 Infinity was stopped at 2:50 a.m. and tested .096 in the field alcohol test. At 3 a.m. the driver of a gray 2006 Mercury was stopped at the same checkpoint and registered .145 on the alcohol test. The legal limit is .08.
— Albert Amateau
