W. 15th St. murder
The body of Michelle Hyams, 60, was found at 11:15 p.m. Sun., June 8, with multiple stab wounds, in the bathroom of her fourth-floor apartment at 85 Eighth Ave. at W. 15th St., police said.
The victim’s live-in companion, Robert Camerano, 61, told 10th Precinct police that he had come home from a night of drinking and found the victim’s body, according to reports. Police questioned Camerano, who has a long police record, for several hours. At one point, Camerano threw a chair through the stationhouse window and was taken to the Manhattan Detention Center on Centre St. on a charge of obstructing justice. The defendant became violent at his arraignment and was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for observation, but he has not been charged yet in connection with the murder. His arrest record since 1982 includes robbery, drug violations and weapons possession.
Police turned up a folding knife that had been wiped clean in the victim’s apartment. Neighbors in the six-story building described the victim as a very friendly woman devoted to her dog, but said the couple was known to have frequent loud arguments
Pot leader charged Dana Beal, 61, a Noho resident and leader of the annual Marijuana March, was being held in Coles County, Ill., on money-laundering charges in lieu of $250,000 bail, according to a spokesperson in the sheriff’s office in the east central Illinois county. The spokesperson was unable to give the details of the charge on Tues., June 10, except to say a police department in the county filed the charges. A. J. Weberman, who manages the Yippie Café on the ground floor at 9 Bleecker St., the building where Beal lives, said he believed Beal was arrested because he was carrying a lot of money.
Beal, an advocate for the legalization of marijuana and for the use of the drug ibogaine as a cure for addiction, was an early member of the Youth International Party, known as the Yippies, founded in the 1960s. He formerly published Overthrow, the Yippie newspaper, out of 9 Bleecker St.
Grand larceny Colleen Wilber, 25, the operations manager of the Circuit City Union Square store at 52 E. 14th St., was arrested Thurs., June 5, and charged with stealing $100,000 from the branch that she managed during the course of a year between April 2007 and May 2008. She diverted money that should have gone into the company bank account to her own use, the charge says. Bail was set at $5,000 cash and $10,000 bond pending a June 11 court appearance.
Grand St. burglary Burglars entered an apartment at 26 Grand St. at Sixth Ave. sometime between 4 a.m. Fri., May 30, and 2 p.m. the following day, took computer, audio and video appliances valued at $8,600, and walked out the front door, police said. The burglars got into the place from the roof via a fire escape, police said.
Crane inspector arrested James Delayo, 60, acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks in the Department of Buildings, was arrested Fri., June 6, and charged with accepting bribes from crane operators and crane companies between 2002 and 2007.
The complaint charges that Delayo, responsible for crane operator examinations and supervision of annual crane inspections, met with the owner of a crane company and accepted bribes for passing applicants for crane operation, whether or not they passed the written or practical exams. He was also charged with accepting bribes to recertify cranes that he had not actually inspected and then filing false paperwork.
If found guilty, Delayo is subject to from two-and-a-half to seven years in prison. He was freed on his own recognizance pending an Oct. 7 court date.
Hit with glass A patron, 33, of The Door, a bar at 144 Sullivan St. between W. Houston and Prince Sts., was talking to a stranger sitting on the stool next to him during the early hours of Sun., June 1, when the stranger slammed him in the face with the glass he was drinking from, police said. The assailant, described as a white man about age 30, 6 feet tall and weighing about 220 pounds, fled.
Car burglary A woman on King St. called police at about 5 p.m. Sat., May 31, when she saw someone putting what looked like a screwdriver into the door of a car parked in front of 50 King St. east of Varick St. Police arrested Jon Reich, 53, and charged him with burglary.
Tool theft Burglars broke into a construction site at 459 Broadway sometime between 3 p.m. Tues., June 3, and 3 a.m. Wed., June 4, through a side door on Grand St., broke a lock on a large toolbox, and made off with 35 miscellaneous power tools valued at $10,483, police said.
Shoplifting Marvin Davis, 24, charged with assault and robbery on Tues., June 3, for stealing a box of cold medicine from the CVS store at 253 First Ave. at 15th St. and then throwing an employee to the floor and kicking him, pleaded guilty on Fri., June 6, to a reduced charge of petit larceny. He will be sentenced July 24.
An employee of a clothing boutique at 14 Christopher St. told police that a man took an item from the shelf, shoved it into his waistband and fled at 1:45 p.m., Sat., May 24. The employee said he recognized the thief as the same person who shoplifted in the store about two months ago.
Meat Market D.W.I. A motorist who failed to observe a stop sign on the southwest corner of Gansevoort and Washington Sts. shortly before 10 p.m. Wed., May 28, became combative when he was charged with driving while intoxicated. Police later found marijuana in the man’s pocket and also charged him with possession of a controlled substance.
A motorist who stopped in front of 500 W. 14th St., blocking a fire hydrant in a “no standing anytime” zone, was charged with driving while intoxicated at 11:35 p.m. Thurs., May 22.
Police stopped a motorist at the D.W.I. checkpoint at Ninth Ave. and Little W. 12th St. at 1:50 a.m. Sun., May 25, and charged him with driving while intoxicated after he registered 0.125 in an alcohol breath field test. The legal limit is 0.08.
Lost in lounges Women patrons of various Village clubs and lounges reported that their bags or wallets were stolen during the early hours of May 22 to May 26. The thefts occurred at Beatrice Inn, 285 W. 12th St., on May 22, and at Le Royale, 21 Seventh Ave. South, and Town Tavern, 134 W. Third St., both on May 24.
Two women had their wallets stolen at Tenjune, 26 Little W. 12th St., an hour apart on May 25.
Thefts were also reported at Pennyfeathers, 95 Seventh Ave. South, on May 26, and at Red Lion, 151 Bleecker St., also on May 26.
A woman in the Starbucks at 663 Broadway had her wallet stolen from her bag, which she had hung on the back of her chair on Wednesday afternoon May 28.
Albert Amateau
