Arrest in sex ring
Police arrested two men and two women on Tues., Sept. 18, in a prostitution raid at 39 Eldridge St. The two men, Benjie Zheng, 47, and Ming Lin-chang, 48, were charged with promoting prostitution. Zheng was free on $3,500 bail and Lin-chang was free on $2,500 bail pending a Jan. 10 court date for both men. The two women, Diana Laura, 23, and Mia Hernandez, 25, were free on their own recognizance pending an Oct. 2 court date.
Zheng told an undercover officer that he could have the services of one of two women in the place for $35, according to the charges. The undercover gave Zheng $40, received $5 change and took one of the women to an alcove behind a curtain. He then radioed for backup officers who arrested Zheng, the two women and Lin-chang, who ran out of an office when the backup arrived.
East Village burglary
Police arrested Pedro Garcia, 19, on Thursday afternoon Sept. 20 and charged him with entering a fourth-floor apartment on E. Sixth St. near Second Ave. via a fire escape, breaking a window and taking a backpack with two digital cameras. A neighbor who saw the event alerted police, who made the arrest. Garcia, who is homeless, was being held on charges of burglary, criminal mischief and possession of stolen property, pending a Sept. 29 notice of grand jury action.
Subway predator
Police arrested Patrick Joseph, 22, on Tues., Sept 18, after he tried to buy a MetroCard with a credit card stolen the night before from a woman in the mezzanine of the East Broadway F train station. Police charged that Joseph pushed the woman, 25, down the stairs, grabbed her bag and fled. The victim was taken to the hospital with a concussion.
Joseph, of Brooklyn, has a record of seven arrests for subway-related crime, the latest a June 25, 2007, conviction. He was being held pending a notice this week of grand-jury action.
Money grabber
A woman shopping on Canal St. at Broadway on Sunday evening Sept. 16 was taking a $100 bill out of her bag when a man rushed past, snatched the money and fled, police said. However, the victim alerted a police officer, who apprehended Derrick Miller, 45, and charged him with grand larceny and possession of stolen property. Miller was free on $3,500 bail pending a Jan. 2 trial date.
Tyson toy thief
A woman who was trying to leave a shop at Mott and Pell Sts. with two toy cars under her jacket at 5:10 p.m. Sun., Sept. 16, bit the ear of a woman employee who tried to stop her, police said. Renee Lyles, 45, was arrested after a customer called 911, and was charged with assault, second-degree robbery and possession of stolen property. The employee, Ling Ye Huang, was treated at New York Downtown Hospital.
Albert Amateau
