Burglary and cycle theft
Police arrested Ivan Ortiz, 44, on Wed. Aug. 4 and charged him with larceny and attempted burglary at 6:40 p.m. at 85 South St. John St. Ortiz was seen trying to open a door to the premises but failing, according to the complaint filed by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Ortiz then hopped on a bicycle valued at $3,500 belonging to a patron of a nearby restaurant, police said. The suspect pedaled away, followed by the outraged patron, but ran into police who charged him with attempted burglary, grand larceny and possession of stolen property. Ortiz was also charged with possession of burglary tools, a knife that he is charged with using in the attempt to pry open the door on South St.
Racing cycle
A Brooklyn man, 48, chained his Bianchi-Axis racing bicycle to a stand in front of the Apple store at the corner of Prince and Greene Sts at 4:50 p.m. Fri. Aug. 6. He returned 20 minutes to find the bike, valued at $2,500, had been stolen.
Leandra guilty plea
Carmen Huertas, 32, pleaded guilty on Tues. Aug. 10 to manslaughter in connection with the drunk driving incident that killed 11-year-old Leandra Rosado of Chelsea and injured 11 other girls on Oct. 11, 2009. Leandra’s death inspired the passage of Leandra’s law in New York State, making it a felony to drive drunk with a child in the car. Huertas is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 1 and is expected to be given more than the minimum one-year prison term but less that the maximum 14-year term. Huertas was driving her daughter’s friends from a party in Chelsea to her home in the Bronx for a sleepover when she lost control of her station wagon at W. 90th St. on the West Side Highway. Police estimated she was driving at 68 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone and her breath test at the scene indicated a blood alcohol level of .132. The legal limit is .08.
Locker raid
A Bronx woman, 36, told police she went to the Lucille Roberts fitness center at 143 Fulton St. on Thurs. Aug. 5, locked her bag in a locker and returned after her workout to find the lock had been removed and her bag with personal ID and her bankcard had been stolen, She learned later that two unauthorized charges had been made on her bankcard at Daffy’s Wall St. location.
Wallet gone
A Queens man told police he was shopping at various stores in Soho on Sun. Aug. 8 he discovered that his wallet was missing at 5 p.m. after he left a shop at 579 Broadway between Prince and Houston Sts.
Cold comfort
A woman visiting from Maryland told police she was at Antarctica, the club at 287 Hudson St., south of Spring St., on Wednesday night Aug. 4 and hung her bag on the back of her chair at 10 p.m. but discovered an hour later that it had been stolen. Gone with the bag were her Maryland driver’s license, cell phone, credit cards and $67 in cash.
Secret theft
A man visiting from Palo Alto, Calif. was shopping in the Victoria’s Secret branch at 593 Broadway south of Houston St. around 3 p.m. Sun., Aug. 8 when he put his laptop computer in its bag on a counter near the cash register while waiting to pay for his purchase. His Apple MacBook, valued at $3,000, was gone when he turned to pick it up a few minutes later.
— Albert Amateau
