Seek homicide suspect
NYPD is offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people who stabbed a woman who was found with several stab wounds to her back in an elevator in 555 FDR Dr. in the Baruch Houses shortly before 5 a.m. Sat., Feb 12.
The victim, identified last week as Jomali Morales, 42, of 383 Grand St., was declared dead at Beth Israel Hospital. Anyone with information should phone Crime Stoppers at 800:577-8477 (TIPS) or log onto www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or text the tips to 274637 (crimes) and enter TIPS577. All tips are strictly confidential.
Missing persons
Police are seeking the whereabouts of two elderly Asian men missing last week from the homes, one from 79 Chrystie St., and the other from 132 Avenue D.
Kong Xin Huang, 79, was last seen leaving his Chrystie St. residence around 3 p.m. Sat., Feb. 19, wearing light brown trousers, a waist-length brown coat, black shoes and a blue baseball cap, police said. Huang speaks Cantonese only.
Xiulong Zheng, 63, was last seen inside his Avenue D residence by his wife at 10:20 a.m. Mon., Feb. 14 wearing a black three-quarter length jacket, black trousers and black shoes. The missing man, 5’3” and 125 pounds, has a slight paralysis to his left side as the result of a stroke and walks with a limp, police said. Zheng, who immigrated to this country several weeks ago, does not respond to his name and is unable to speak at all, police said.
Information should be phoned to 800:577-TIPS or reported at www.crimestoppers.com or by texting 274637 and TIPS577.
Tribeca burglary charge
Police said a Queens man, 48, made his way into 50 Murray St. between W. Broadway and Church Sts., entered the unlocked apartment of a woman, around 4:45 a.m. Sun., Feb. 13, fondled her and fled after she awoke screaming. Luis MacAncela was charged with burglary and sexual abuse in the incident and was released on $5,000 bail pending a May 10 court appearance, according to a spokesperson for District Attorney Cyrus Vance. Jr. The suspect, who pleaded not guilty, was delivering newspapers in the building which boasts 7-day round the clock security, according to a New York Post article. MacAncela’s lawyer, Frank Rothman, said the defendant entered the apartment only because he saw clothes strewn outside and the door open, the Post article said. Rothman said MacAncela called out to the victim to ask if everything was OK and left after explaining that he thought she was in trouble but she “freaked out,” according to the Post item. MacAncela is married with two children and works another job in addition to the newspaper home delivery, according to the Post article.
Arrest in Vandam St. homicide
Police arrested Julio Locarno, 23, on Mon., Feb. 14 and charged him with being one of two men involved in a fatal shooting last July 18 in a argument over a Vandam St. parking space near the club, Greenhouse. The victim, Jason Green, was shot with two bullets around 5 a.m. and died at the scene. Locano, who was identified as a suspect by a surveillance video, told his accomplice, not apprehended as yet, to shoot the victim, according to reports. Both the victim and the accused had been at Greenhouse, the club at 150 Varick just prior to the shooting.
Locarno is being held pending a March 17 court appearance on charges of first degree manslaughter and gang assault, according to a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
Gun carry charge
Afrika Nora Owes, 17, a student and basketball star at Millenium High School in the Financial District, was arrested Wed., Feb. 16, along with 13 other Harlem teens, and charged with transporting guns for her boyfriend, Jaquan Layne, 20, in jail for armed robbery as part of a Harlem crack and gun gang. Owes entered Millenium after leaving Deerfield Academy, a Massachusetts private prep school, where she had a scholarship, after a disciplinary investigation last spring. According to a New York Post article, Owes had been a childhood playmate of Layne.
Producer’s death
Perry Moore, 39, producer of the “Chronicles of Narnia” movies, was found dead of an apparent drug overdose on Thurs. Feb. 17 in his apartment at 180 W. Houston St. off Sixth Ave.
Moore, whose first name was entered as William in a police report, had bottles of a prescription painkiller near his body, according to reports. The Medical Examiner’s office said a preliminary investigation was inconclusive. Police said no criminality was suspected.
— Albert Amateau
