Robbery arrest
First Precinct detectives arrested Von Hammond, 26, on Tues., Jan. 20 in connection with the Jan. 4 robbery of a visitor from Akron, Ohio on Murray St. near Church St. Hammond held a broken bottle to the victim’s face, took $20 from him and forced him to withdraw more cash from two ATMS, according to the charges. The defendant was freed on $5,000 bail pending an April 22 court appearance.
Stolen ATMs
Police are still seeking two men wanted in connection with the theft of Automated Teller Machines and their cash contents from three Lower East Side locations. The two thieves, described only as Hispanic men, drove their green Dodge Caravan onto the sidewalks, knocked over the ATMs and loaded the machines into their van and drove off. The ATM from in front of 107 Clinton St. was taken around 5:15 a.m. Dec. 26; the machine in front of 103 Clinton St. was taken at 3:30 a.m. Jan. 7 and 20 minutes later the ATM in front of 109 Ludlow St. was stolen.
Soho burglaries arrest Police apprehended Alphonse Vastano, 44, on Tues., Jan. 14 and charged him with three restaurant burglaries, two in Soho in October and one in Chelsea on Jan. 2.
On Oct. 2, Vastano and an accomplice broke into Jacques, 20 Prince St., and stole a safe that was bolted to the floor and its contents of $7,000, according to the charges. On Oct. 23, Vastano and an accomplice broke into Delicatessen, 54 Prince St., between 2 and 6 a.m., cracked three safes and made off with $8,000, according to charges.
At 5:30 a.m. on Sat., Jan. 2, Vastano and an accomplice broke into Cookshop, 156 10th Ave. at 20th St., drilled open a safe, stole $5,500 in cash and two chef’s knives and fled, according to the charges filed by the Manhattan District Attorney.
When he was arrested, Vastano told police that he had stolen the chef’s knives from the Cookshop, and acknowledged that he was one of the people recorded on the surveillance videos at the scenes of the two Prince St. burglaries, according to prosecutors.
Police are investigating a possible suspect as an accomplice in the burglaries.
Phone threats A thief who made off with the handbag of a woman patron of a bar at 2 Gold St. at Maiden La. at 3 a.m. Sun., Jan. 11 used the victim’s cell phone to make menacing phone calls to her mother and friends, police said. The victim told police that 50 unauthorized calls had been made, including one to her mother by a man who said, “I have your daughter, that [expletive], I’ve been watching her for three months.” The unidentified man also made threatening sexual statements in a phone call to a female friend of the victim, police said.
Lost bags A woman who put her bag on the corner of the bar at Anchor Bar, 310 Spring St. at Renwick St. during the early hours of Fri., Jan. 2 discovered it was gone when she was ready to leave at 3:30 a.m. A man who stopped off at Vosges Chocolate at 132 Spring St. between Greene and Wooster Sts. around 4:30 p.m. Sun., Jan. 4 fell asleep at his table and woke to find the backpack that he had placed at his feet was gone.
— Albert Amateau
