Police seek serial rapist
Police are still seeking the man involved in three rape abduction incidents that began on the streets of Chelsea.
The suspect was described as a Latino man in his 20s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, thin build, armed with a silver folding knife and driving a black two-door sports car.
In the first incident, a woman, 29, was sexually abused at knifepoint on Sept. 15, 2004, at 28th St. and 10th Ave. by the suspect, who tried but failed to force her into his car before he drove off by himself, police said.
On Oct, 31, 2004, police said a man with a similar description grabbed a 24-year-old woman at knifepoint on W. 28th St. at Ninth Ave., forced her into the black car and drove her to New Jersey where he raped her and dumped her. On June 24, 2005, the suspect grabbed a woman, age 26, on 24th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves., put a knife to her throat and forced her into his car where he raped her before driving her to Elizabeth, N.J., where he left her, police said.
Indict accountant
A Manhattan grand jury on March 16 indicted an accountant, Winferd F. Keaton, 45, of Edison, N.J., for stealing $165,914 from two Salvation Army men’s shelters, including the Bond St. Drop-in Center in Noho.
Keaton was working for the Salvation Army New York Division, responsible for the records of the Kingsboro Men’s Shelter in Brooklyn and the Bond St. Drop-in Center for Homeless Men, from July 2004 to September 2005, when he deposited the agency’s checks for the two shelters into his own account, according to the office of Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
Keaton used $8,000 of the stolen money to pay restitution on an earlier fraud of the Jewish Telegraph Agency, a Manhattan nonprofit news agency. He pleaded guilty in February 2004 and is still on probation until 2009 on that case, according to Morgenthau’s office.
Soho car break-in
A motorist who left his car in a parking garage at 81 Grand St. between Wooster and Greene Sts. on Sat. March 11 returned that night to find that several pieces of luggage had been stolen from the trunk, police said. There was no sign that the trunk had been forced open, police said.
Slashed in Soho
A woman walking on Wooster St. near Grand St. on Sunday evening March 12 was pushed to the ground from behind by a mugger who tried to snatch her handbag, police said. The suspect, described only as a black man, then pulled a knife, slashed the victim’s arm and threatened the victim and several passersby with more harm before he fled, police said.
Arrest pickpocket
A Manhattan South Grand Larceny Task Force officer patrolling Canal St. near Wooster St. on Saturday evening March 11 arrested a woman he observed reaching into a pedestrian’s handbag, police said. Officer Shaun Gumbs arrested Sabrina Brown, 40, and brought her to the First Police Precinct to be charged with grand larceny.
Murder trial deferred
The murder trial of Michael Brown has been rescheduled for Thurs. March 30 before Criminal Court Judge James A Yates. Brown was charged with the Sept. 21 shooting death of Thomas McKinney across the street from the Mission bar on Bowery at Rivington St.
The shooting occurred on the street after an argument that started inside the bar over a spilled drink that involved four women who were with Brown and McKinney. A homeless man, Jeffrey Dudley, who was lying on the sidewalk near where McKinney was killed, was also injured in the shooting.
Girls still missing
Two girls last seen at about 2 p.m. Feb. 22 leaving Odyssey House, the voluntary drug treatment center at 309 E. Sixth St., were still missing nearly a month later on March 21. Anyone with information about Elizabeth Martini or Franka Roderick, both 16 years old, should phone the Ninth Police Precinct detective squad at 212-477-7809.
Teens smash windows
A group of teenagers from Chelsea Vocational High School went on a window-breaking spree at about 11 a.m. Fri. March 17, and smashed glass at Space Salon, 155 Sixth Ave., and in cars parked near the school, police said. A 15-year-old dropped a slingshot as police chased him west on Spring St. He was arrested west of Hudson St., and charged with malicious mischief, police said.
Albert Amateau
