Brawlers arrested Police arrested two men who were fighting on the grounds of the Smith Houses on Madison St. at 11:30 a.m. Wed., March 26. Rafaelito Nevaro, 28, was charged with second degree assault for hitting Michael Martin, 25, with an unspecified weapon and Martin was also charged with second degree assault for hitting Nevaro with a bayonet. Martin was also charged with possession of crack and weapon possession. Both had cuts on their hands and arms, according to the district attorney’s office.
Gunpoint robbery Two men held up a victim at gunpoint in an elevator in the Baruch Houses on E. Houston St. and Baruch Pl. at 11:10 p.m. Mon., March 24, police said. The surveillance camera in the building lobby recorded an image of the two potential suspects and no arrests were made.
Federal witness beating The F.B.I. arrested Cao Yi Guo on Wed., March 26, and charged him with assaulting a federal witness in an extortion case involving private van drivers who shuttle passengers between Chinatown and Eighth Ave. in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Southern District office in Lower Manhattan.
Four defendants were convicted on May 2 last year for extorting money from drivers of the route that begins on the corner of E. Broadway at Market St. A witness who testified against them at the trial was driving his van on Feb. 9 of this year when Cao cut him off and threatened him, according to the charge. On March 18, the same victim was driving in Brooklyn when Cao pulled up in front, rammed the side of the victim’s car, pulled him from behind the wheel, kicked the victim who was lying on the ground and threatened to kill him, according to the charge.
Bones in basement
Workmen installing new water pipes in the basement of 277 Church St. found what looked like human skeletal remains on Monday afternoon March 31. They called police who arrived at the four-story loft building with a ground floor bar near White St. at 2:20 p.m. Police gave the bones, including a skull, to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Ellen Borakove, spokesperson for the M.E., said on Tues., April 1 that the bones belong to a black female, but her age and how long she had been dead were still under investigation.
FDR cab accident A taxicab on the FDR Drive overpass near the Maiden La. exit flipped over onto the median at about 11:35 a.m. Wed., April 2 and the driver and two passengers sustained minor injuries, police said.
Phil Fox, a witness who works in a building that overlooks the overpass, said that he saw a southbound flatbed truck suddenly begin to weave wildly and strike the cab which flipped and landed on the median. The truck lost a tire and stopped about 100 feet from the accident and passing motorists stopped and pulled the occupants out of the cab, Fox said An ambulance came and took all three victims. The road was closed in both directions for about a half hour, Fox said.
Impersonation A New York City Transit employee stopped a man who flashed a Transit ID at the F train station at Delancey and Essex Sts. around 9 p.m. Wed., March 26. Fernando Diaz, 61, said he worked for the M.T.A. and should be passed through the gate, but when the transit worker scrutinized the ID, Diaz admitted he was not an M.T.A. employee, according to the office of district attorney Robert Morgenthau. Diaz, a resident of 572 Grand St. in the East River Houses, was charged with criminal impersonation.
— Albert Amateau
