Chinatown robbery
Police arrested a father and son for the knifepoint robbery on Sat., Feb. 7 in a mahjong parlor at 109 Eldridge St. between Grand and Broome Sts. Shui Li Guo, 56, of Maryland, and his son, Xin Shan Guo, 27, of Brooklyn, entered the place around 12:30 a.m. when Xin Shan pulled a knife and Shui Li took a total of $400 from the patrons, according to the complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney. A witness phoned 911 and police arrested the suspects on first and second degree robbery charges. They were being held pending a May 4 court appearance.
Bridge jumper
A 22-year-old man who jumped from the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge around 4:18 p.m. Tues., Feb. 17 was picked up by an N.Y.P.D. harbor launch, police said. He was “swimming on the surface” and complained only of back pains, according to Police who identified him only by age and as a Lower Manhattan resident. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for observation.
Steve Brodie, 1863-1901, claimed to have jumped off the bridge in July 1886 at the age of 23. The feat gave rise to the phrase “to do a Brodie.”
Fell onto tracks
A man fainted on the platform of the Brooklyn Bridge subway station around 11:10 a.m. Tues., Feb. 17 and was hit by a train entering the station, a spokesperson for New York City Transit said. The victim was taken to Bellevue hospital and his condition was not released. Northbound No. 4 service between Borough Hall and Brooklyn Bridge and northbound No. 5 service between Bowling Green and Brooklyn Bridge, was suspended until shortly before noon.
Embezzlement charge
A Manhattan grand jury indicted Richard Garaventa, 36, on Thurs., Feb. 12 for stealing $2,514,519 from his former employer, the investment bank, Morgan Stanley, between Sept. 5, 2001 and Dec. 24, 2008.
Garaventa, a Manalapan, N.J., resident, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Thurs., Feb. 17 and bail was set at $1 million, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney said.
The defendant was a vice president in the operations division of Morgan Stanley’s institutional securities business and was responsible for processing payments from various in-house accounts, according to the charges.
Garaventa created NY Transfer Corp and opened a checking account in the company’s name at JP Morgan Chase, according to the indictment. Over the years he caused 50 checks to be issued from Morgan Stanley, deposited them in the NY Transfer Corp. account and used the money for personal expenses, according to the indictment.
Garaventa’s salary in 2008 was $125,000 per year plus a $50,000 bonus. He was fired on Jan. 7, 2009 after an internal audit discovered the thefts while he was on a vacation paid for with the stolen money, according to a spokesperson for the District Attorney.
If found guilty of the charges that include 23 counts of grand larceny as well as charges of criminal possession of stolen property and falsifying business records, Garaventa could receive a prison sentence of up to 25 years.
Wallet stolen
A woman, 25, was looking for her wallet to pay her lunch bill at a fast food place at John and William Sts. shortly after 3 p.m. Fri., Jan. 30 when she discovered it had been stolen along with her credit cards and $81. The victim, an Upper West Side resident, said she didn’t know where the theft occurred. The victim waited until Sun., Feb. 1 to report the case because she was observing the Jewish Sabbath, police said.
— Albert Amateau
