Stolen cab chase
Police arrested a man who stole a cab after punching the driver on E. Houston at Lafayette St. early on Sat., Feb. 26 and drove wildly with police in pursuit until he crashed into a pole on E. 14th St. at Union Sq. W.
Michael Findley, 31, who has been arrested more than a dozen times on charges including burglar and larceny in the past three years according to daily newspaper reports, now faces charges of robbery, driving while drunk, and traffic offenses.
The suspect was carrying a take-out food carton when hailed the cab on Bowery. He spilled some of the food in the cab and cursed the driver who remonstrated with him and ordered him out of the cab at E. Houston and Lafayette Sts. The driver told police that Findley punched him, pushed him over and got into the driver’s seat and sped away. The driver was able to get out of the cab at Mercer St. and a patrol car gave chase when the suspect sped the wrong way up Mercer. Findley was taken to Bellevue where he was charged with multiple offenses. The driver was shaken but refused medical attention.
Under subway, survives
A man fell onto the tracks at the East Broadway subway station around 12:15 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 24 when a Brooklyn bound F train pulled into the station and ran over him, according to police. The victim, 55, apparently homeless and as yet unidentified, was conscious when a rescue worker jumped onto the tracks between two cars and was able to free the victim who was wedged between the rails and the platform. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in serious condition with his left arm and left leg severely mangled. Service on the line was restored at the station at 1:41 p.m. The same station was where a deranged man knocked an off-duty transit worker, Sabrina Scott, onto the tracks on Feb. 4. A passerby pulled Scott to safety before an incoming train rumbled into the station. There has been no arrest in the Feb. 4 case.
Bad check charges
A suspect charged with cashing a forged check at the TD Bank branch at 155 Canal St. near Bowery on the afternoon of Jan. 7, was arrested on Feb. 15. Laquan Williams, 26, was charged with making out a check from Rubyred Productions Avenue to himself and cashing it at the Canal St. branch bank. Surveillance videotape led to his arrest on charges of larceny, ID theft and criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Rooftop burglaries
Police were questioning “a person of interest” on Mon. Feb. 28 in connection with a series of Greenwich Village rooftop burglaries over the past six weeks on Thompson and Sullivan Sts near Bleecker St. A suspect, whose identity has not yet been established, gained access to apartments in a Thompson St. building near Bleecker St. in three burglaries that began on the night of Jan. 20. The suspect climbed down a fire escape from the roof and into a sixth floor apartment and made off with a video game console, according to reports.
On the night of Jan. 24, the suspect apparently returned to the same building and gained access to a third floor apartment via an unlocked bedroom window on a fire escape, police said. The suspect, who left a footprint on the victim’s bed, made off with a new jacket, with its $400 price tag still on it, as well as a laptop computer and an iPod, police said.
The following night the suspect hit a fourth floor apartment in the same building sometime before 8 p.m. and made off with the woman resident’s bag, digital camera and laptop, police said.
Pleads in sex shop case
Stephen Pellegrino, 53, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor prostitution charge on Feb. 24 after his arrested on Feb. 18 at a spa and travel agency on the second floor at 35 W. 14th St., according to a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney. An undercover NYPD vice squad detective charged that Pellegrino, whom he identified as a manager of the location, told him that his best hooker, Candy, was on duty, and that the price was $50 plus tip and, “a hand job is included in the price.” The complaint also says the shop sold travel services “for the purposes of patronizing a prostitute, including to a foreign jurisdiction.”
Still seek ‘plumbers’
The three men who robbed an 80-year-old woman on Feb. 16 in her apartment at 87 Barrow St. while one of them posed as a plumber are wanted in five similar previous burglary thefts in the Bronx, police said on Mon. Feb. 24. In the Bronx burglaries, the crooks said they worked for “the water department” and needed to enter the homes to check water levels or quality, police said. They were described as being Hispanic, 5’8” or 5’9” between 30 and 40 years old and wearing mustaches or goatees.
Missing man dead
Harbor police found the body of Huang Kong, 79, of 79 Chrystie St., in the water near the South St. Seaport Pier 17 around 2:15 p.m. Tues. Feb. 22. The victim was identified the following day as Kong Xin Huang, who was last seen leaving his Chrystie St. home at 3 p.m. Sat. Feb. 19.
Domestic rage
A woman, 27, told police that a man she knew broke her ground floor apartment’s front window and also smashed her rear bedroom window at 171 Thompson St. near W. Houston St. at 3:20 a.m. Fri., Feb. 25. The window smashing came after the man tried to kick down the front door of her apartment, police said. The woman also charged that the suspect, Seymour Quiles, 29, who was arrested the next day, had text-messaged her with threats. Quiles was charged with fourth degree criminal mischief.
