Fatal cycle accident
A 2008 Range Rover struck a Brooklyn woman as she was riding her bicycle across the intersection of Delancey St. and Bowery at about 1:28 a.m. Aug. 5, police said. The victim, Rasha Shamoon, 31, was taken to New York Downtown hospital in critical condition and was transferred to New York Presbyterian hospital where she died at 5 p.m. Sat., Aug. 9. Police said she was crossing against the light and the driver of the Range Rover remained at the scene and was not charged.
Shamoon, who emigrated from Iraq with her family at age 2, was a psychology professor at Hunter and LaGuardia Colleges. She was biking to her home in Greenpoint when she was hit. Her friends and family are planning a New Orleans style funeral parade in Brooklyn outside St. Anthony-St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, 862 Manhattan Avenue, at 11:45 a.m. on Sat., Aug. 16.
Horsing around
A Lower Manhattan man who was in a crowd that attracted mounted police on 10th Ave. at W. 28th St. at 4:50 a.m. Sun., Aug. 3, punched one of the horses, Buck, in the nose and then grabbed the reins of Buck and another horse, McQuade, endangering the cops riding them, police said. The suspect, Alfonso Figar, 20, who lives on John St., was charged with reckless endangerment and assaulting the officers who were arresting him. Figar had to be wrestled to the ground to be handcuffed, police said. He was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital for treatment to injuries received in the arrest, police said. Figar was free on his own recognizance pending an Oct. 14 court appearance, according to a spokesperson for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Teen robbers
Two teens, one of them 15 years old, were arrested on Tues., Aug. 5 around 6:40 a.m. in Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City and charged with the knife-point robbery of two other teenagers. Jonathan Melendez, 17, was charged with taking the victims’ cell phones and wallets in the robbery that took place in the park across from 22 River Terrace. The 15-year-old, whose name was not released, was charged with second degree robbery in family court. Melendez, of E. 100 St. in Manhattan, was held in lieu of bail pending an Aug. 18 court appearance.
Hate crime charge
Police arrested Michael Whigham and Matthew Rivera, both 18-year-old residents of the Samuel Gompers Houses on Pitt St., for beating and robbing two young men around 2 a.m. Thurs., Aug. 7 on Clinton St. between Stanton and Rivington Sts. According to the charges filed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, the suspects shouted anti-gay epithets at the victims, punched and kicked them and ran off with cell phones the victims had dropped during the attack.
Crime spike
For the week ending Aug. 10 this year, robbery, felony assault, burglary and grand larceny spiked compared to the same week last year in the First Precinct, which covers Lower Manhattan south of Houston St. west of Broadway and river to river south of Brooklyn Bridge.
There were three robberies and three assaults in the period this year compared to one robbery and one assault in the same week last year. Four burglaries were reported for the week this year compared to three the same week last year. There were 27 grand larcenies in the week this year compared to 19 the same week last year.
In the Fifth Precinct, which covers Chinatown and the Lower East Side between Houston St. and Brooklyn Bridge between Broadway and Allen St., there was an increase in burglaries during the week ending Aug. 10 this year when four were reported compared to one during the same period last year. Burglaries spiked in the precinct in the 28-day period ending Aug. 10 with 17 reported this year compared to nine for the same period last year. For the year to Aug. 10 burglaries in the Fifth Precinct increased this year with 74 reported compared to 62 last year.
— Albert Amateau
