Tribeca sex abuse
Police last week were seeking a man who forced a girl, 12, into an elevator and down to the basement of a Walker St. building at 4:45 p.m. Tues., Nov. 13, where he exposed himself and forced the girl to touch him. The suspect was described as 6 feet tall, about 170 pounds, white or Hispanic, wearing black trousers and a black coat and speaking with an accent. After the incident, he forced the girl back into the elevator with him and fled when it reached the ground floor, police said.
E train iPod rob
A man and a woman robbed a victim, 19, of his backpack, wallet and iPod on a southbound E train at 3:50 a.m. Mon., Oct. 29, police said. The robbers got off at the Spring St. Sixth Ave. station and fled with cash and various items with a total value of $2,325, police said.
Robbery series arrest
Police on Thurs., Nov. 15, arrested Herbert Rodriguez, 35, of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, in connection with a series of armed robberies over the past two months of stores from the Lower East Side and the East Village to Soho and the West Village.
The robberies — previously reported in The Villager along with a surveillance camera image of the defendant in last week’s issue — included a Nov. 9 holdup of a clothing store at 85 Kenmare St., a Nov. 7 liquor store robbery at 171 Elizabeth St. and a Nov. 5 robbery of a doughnut shop at 140 Delancey St.
Among at least 18 robberies, Rodriguez is also charged with earlier holdups of a beauty salon at 120 Thompson St., a furniture boutique at 49 Prince St. and a grocery at 87 Allen St. Rodriguez was held pending arraignment this week.
Hotel scammer pleads
Kouadio Kouassi, arrested last December for trying to file a fake deed to the Soho Grand hotel, 310 W. Broadway, with the city Department of Finance, pleaded guilty Fri., Nov. 16, to attempted grand larceny. The city rejected the phony documents after checking with the Hartz Group, owners of the hotel, but the suspect made five attempts to file the phony documents before he was arrested. Kouassi is to receive a year in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 30, according to a plea agreement.
Soho strong-arms
Two men and a woman were arrested in Soho at 12:30 a.m. Sun., Nov. 4, after they pulled two strong-arm robberies, police said. The trio surrounded a victim, 25, on Greene St. between Grand and Broome Sts., forced him to sit on a stoop while they searched him and made off with his cell phone and wallet. Four minutes later they grabbed a visitor, 59, from Ohio and robbed him of $400 in cash. Police apprehended William James, 18, Marquis Chislom, 17, and Shareen Wesseling, 17, on Greene St. between Broome and Grand Sts.
Auto rage
A Brooklyn man told police that he had stopped at a traffic light at E. Houston and Mott Sts. at 4 a.m. Sun., Oct. 28, when a cab cut in front of him, damaged a fender and sped off to Howard St. and Broadway with the victim in pursuit. The victim got out and approached the cab but the cab hit him on the left leg as it drove off, police said.
Canal burglary
Burglars cut a gate and broke into the building at 357 Canal St. at Wooster St. sometime between 7 p.m. Wed., Nov. 14, and 8 a.m. Thurs., Nov. 15, made a hole in a wall of a storage room of Perfume Touch and made off with perfume and watches valued at $37,000, police said.
Car break-ins
Police arrested two suspects on Mon., Nov. 12, and charged them with breaking into three cars parked on E. Ninth St. near Fourth Ave. and stealing items with a total value of more than $1,000. David Marquez, 35, and Damien Montero, 26, were charged with smashing the window of one car, cutting the canvas roof of another car and breaking into the trunk of a third car before they were arrested.
Menacing arrest
Police arrested Yaru Nyerere, 52, of 324 Avenue C at 8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10, for pulling a knife on a man, 42, in an office building at 37th St. and Eighth Ave. The suspect was carrying an unspecified illegal drug and was charged with possession, as well as menacing, police said.
‘Teeth thief’
A resident of 71 Columbia St. in the Samuel Gompers Houses was returning to his apartment at 10:43 p.m. Mon., Nov. 12, when he found the lock broken and an intruder who burst out of the door and tried to bite him, police said. The victim, 39, called police who arrested Yvette Medina, 37, and charged her with ransacking the apartment.
Hardheaded fellow
Martin Kaplan, 39, was arrested at 2:20 a.m. Sat., Nov. 10, for breaking into a car parked on W. Third St. in front of Washington Square Village by butting his head against the rear window, police said. The suspect was charged with criminal mischief and larceny for stealing cleaning material from the back of the vehicle.
Albert Amateau
I
