Gunpoint robbery
A 17-year-old Brooklyn resident told police that a stranger pointed a gun at him at 9 a.m. Tues., March 29 on the northwest corner of Gold and Fulton St., and said, “You can do this the easy way or the hard way.” The victim, who was on his way to school at the time, said he believed the robber had followed him from Brooklyn on the No. 3 train. The robber fled with the victim’s cell phone.
Deutsche Bank trial
The negligent homicide trial of the John Galt Corp. and three workers began on Monday in connection with the death of two firefighters in an August 2007 fire in the Deutsche Bank building that had been damaged during the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the nearby World Trade Center.
The trial of the Galt Company, along with Mitchell Alvo, Salvatore De Paola and Jeffery Melofchik, is expected to last four months. Galt was a subcontractor of Bovis Lend Lease, the prime contractor in the demolition of the 41-story building. The individual defendants, employees of Galt and Bovis, contend they are scapegoats for negligence by the executives of the two firms and the city Department of Buildings. Assistant District Attorney Brian Fields told the jury on Monday that the three individual defendants deliberately decided to remove 42 ft. of a blocked water pipe to save money. The removal led to the death of firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino in the fire on the 14th floor of the building that was being demolished, Fields said.
Forged credit cards
A woman and two men were arrested in the Adidas store, 136 Wooster St. on March 29 and charged with ID theft and possession of forged credit cards. The woman, Cortney Jetter, 28, and her two male accomplices, Karriem Mack, 38 and Mattew Burke, 40, entered the shop around 5 p.m., offered a card, which was rejected, to pay for a pair of sneakers and then offered another card which cleared, police said. When Jetter offered yet another card to pay for a second pair of sneakers, the Adidas clerk at the store between Houston and Prince Sts. became suspicious and called police. Two forged cards were recovered from Jetter’s bag and all three suspects were arrested and held in lieu of $3,000 bail, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
Subway DOA
Police responded to a call at 10:14 p.m. Sat., April 2 about an unconscious man on the northbound tracks near the Spring and Lafayette Sts. No. 4 subway station. The victim, whom police declined to identify pending family notification, was pronounced dead at the scene with serious trauma injuries. Police determined the victim was struck about 50 ft. from the station platform.
Student killed
Adrian Rodriguez, 18, a senior at Marta Valle High School at 145 Stanton St. on the Lower East Side, was struck by a No. 5 train in the Union Sq. subway station at 7:54 a.m. Fri., April 1. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Bellevue Hospital. Rodriguez was apparently running to get to school on time when he tripped on the platform and fell into the train, witnesses said. The victim, a Bronx resident, won a high school cooking award last year and was trying for a scholarship to the Culinary Institute of America.
Dentist gets grass
Dr. Richard M. Lyons, 61, called police when he arrived at his dental office at 205 Worth St. near Chatham Sq. on Friday afternoon when he discovered a UPS package had been delivered to him earlier in the day with 31 pounds of tightly packed fresh marijuana buds. Lyons said he didn’t know who sent the package which had a return address for Gwendaline Lyons in Katy, Tx., according to a Daily News story. There was no listing for that person. UPS said it would investigate the shipment. Fifth Precinct police who responded to the call had to wear dental masks because the pot fumes gave them a headache, the News story said.
Canal St. robbers
Two New Jersey men, both 19, told police they went to the Bank of America ATM at 375 Canal St. at W. Broadway at 6 p.m. Sun., April 3 when two strangers waylaid them, grabbed their cash and cell phones and fled. One of the thieves followed one victim into the ATM lobby, grabbed the $260 he had just withdrawn and his cell phone. The other suspect grabbed a cell phone and a wallet from the back pocket of the other victim who was standing outside the bank lobby talking on his phone, police said. The two suspects fled on foot in separate directions.
Lost at lunch
A woman, 49, visiting from Wilmington, Del., told police she went to Zaytuna, the restaurant at 59 Maiden La. at noon on Thurs., March 31 and sat down to eat lunch after paying for her food and hanging her bag over the back of her chair. She then repositioned her bag to the floor at her feet while talking with friends. But she discovered an hour later that her wallet had been lifted from the bag. Her bank informed her later that unauthorized charged had been made on her stolen credit cards, police said.
– Albert Amateau
