Chinatown bus stabbing
A passenger on an Atlantic City-bound bus waiting at Chatham Sq. was charged with stabbing another passenger in the stomach at 10 p.m. Sat., Feb. 9, according to a spokesperson for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Police arrested Juan Suquilanda, 54, and charged him with first degree assault and possession of a weapon in connection with the attack on a man, 27, who was taken in serious condition to Bellevue Hospital. Suquilanda was held in lieu of $15,000 bail pending a Feb. 15 court appearance
Bridge hit and run
A truck driver who struck a car at 6 p.m. on Mon., Feb. 11, and then hit a double-deck tourist bus on the Manhattan Bridge ramp at Canal and Chrystie Sts., got out of the truck and fled from the scene, police said. The bus driver and two passengers were slightly injured. Police say the truck driver, Salvador Skerret, 37, returned a short time later to the scene where police administered an alcohol test. They charged Skerret with driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident involving an injury. He was released on his own recognizance pending an April 17 court appearance.
Vanity arrest
Police arrested Steven Upsher, 45, of the Bronx on Feb. 6 and charged him with three burglaries, one in Soho and two in Tribeca in August of last year. One was at 142 Greene St. where a surveillance camera caught his image when he came back to take the loot that he had stashed at the side of the building, according to prosecutors. His image was also recorded at 12 Desbrosses St. where he was charged with stealing a laptop computer, and on Aug. 30 of last year his image was recorded at 170 Duane St., where he is charged with damaging a door to enter the basement, said a spokesperson for the District Attorney.
When First Precinct detectives showed him one of the surveillance tapes, he said, “The camera does not lie. That’s me in the picture,” according to the criminal complaint.
Car burglary arrest
Police arrested Robert Hall, 46, shortly after 3 a.m. Sun., Feb. 3 and charged him with burglary for breaking into three cars parked in Franklin St. near Broadway. Police said the suspect used a nail punch to break the window of a 2000 Honda Accord and stole a wallet with credit cars from the car. He then broke into a Nissan Pathfinder and a Dodge Stratus and took items including a construction tools, a car stereo and a jacket, police said. A witness phoned 911 to summon police. Hall was charged with burglary, grand larceny, possession of burglar tools and stolen property, and possession of an unspecified controlled substance. He is to be arraigned Feb. 19.
Parade rowdies
They came from all over the tri-state region to watch the Super Bowl champion New York Giants parade up the “Canyon of Heroes” from the Battery to City Hall on Tues., Feb. 5, so it was expected that some fans would get out of hand and a few thieves would work the crowd.
“We had three officers assaulted and people had cell phones snatched from their hands,” said D.I. Anthony Bologna, the First Precinct’s commander. “For every person who watched the parade there must have been two who didn’t and were trying to get to where they could see it.”
About a dozen arrests and summonses were issued in the First and Fifth Precincts in connection with the parade, according to a spokesperson at Police Plaza.
Two of the people arrested were Jamie Aponte, of New Jersey and Jeffery DeLucas, of Staten Island, both 21, for jumping up and down on an unmarked police car, causing the roof and the hood to collapse and breaking the car windows, causing $6,000 in damage, according to the District Attorney’s office.
Extortion plea
George Pauliny, a vice president of Turner Construction Co., Inc., 345 Hudson St. pleaded guilty on Thurs., Feb. 7 to grand larceny by extortion.
The defendant, 61, admitted threatening to exclude subcontractors that Turner used on New York City Economic Development Corp. contracts if they did not perform private work on Pauliny’s home in Queens.
Pauliny was suspended from his position at Turner in August when the investigation became known. The subcontractors whom he victimized were working on Turner’s E.D.C. contracts renovating Pier 88 on the West Side and the new Red Hook Passenger Ship Terminal in Brooklyn.
As a result of the plea, Pauliny will lose his $190,000 per year job with Turner and will pay about $10,000 in restitution to the subcontractors for work, including new boiler and radiant heating systems, that they performed at his home without being fully or fairly paid. Under the plea, Pauliny will also be permanently barred from any future contracting work on any government contracts.
Turner Construction assisted the District Attorney’s investigation in the case, according to prosecutors.
— Albert Amateau
