Homicide arrest
Angel Quinonez, 30, charged with the June 30 bludgeoning murders of an elderly couple in their LaGuardia Houses apartment, surrendered on July 4 to detectives at the Seventh Precinct.
Quinonez, a resident of the Vladeck Houses who had served time for robbery, is charged with the first-degree murders of Cecelia Ruiz, 60, and her husband, Carlos Ruiz, 70, whose bodies were found in their apartment at 280 Madison St. by Cecelia Ruiz’s daughter, Maritza Valpais, the suspect’s girlfriend.
Valpais had received a phone call on the night before the murders from her mother who told her that Quinonez was at the elderly couple’s apartment and was planning to stay the night, according to police. Valpais found the bodies of the couple when she went to their apartment the next morning.
The couple were both reportedly beaten about the head and then choked, according to police reports. They would have celebrated their second wedding anniversary on July 4.
Quinonez failed to show up at his job as a janitor at the Henry St. Settlement and had not been seen until he walked into the Seventh Precinct in the company of his lawyer. He was arraigned on July 5 and is being held pending a July 10 court appearance.
Soho store beating
The owner of a Tasti D-Lite at 203 Spring St. was beaten in his shop on Wednesday afternoon June 28 when he tried to stop a group of teenagers from carrying off a plastic bin full of peanuts and candy. The owner, Hoowladei Shopan, suffered facial cuts and was taken to St. Vincent’s hospital, according to his brother. The group of four suspects, who fled without taking anything, were believed to be students from Chelsea Vocational High School on Sixth Ave. at Dominick St. a block away from the shop. Wednesday was the last day of the school term before summer vacation.
“You better be careful on this block, anybody could get mugged,” said Richie Gamba, owner of a barbershop next to the Tasti D-Lite. He said muggings by students were common on Spring St. and frequently occurred just before the summer vacation.
Prostitution plea
Jason Sylk Itzler, 38, arrested in the Village in January 2005 and charged in connection with a call girl operation at 79 Worth St., entered a plea bargain on June 29 to money laundering and attempted promotion of prostitution.
He is to be sentenced July 13 to 16 months to three years to run concurrently with a sentence in Hudson County, N.J., on charges of running a brothel in Hoboken.
The call girl racket was conducted from the office of New York Confidential, an escort service on Worth St. that dispatched prostitutes to various hotels, including the W Hotel near Union Square, for high-paying clients.
Also arrested with Itzler was Hulbert Waldroup, 38, of 18 Thompson St. His next court date is Sept. 7.
Albert Amateau
