Burglary spree Police arrested a homeless man on Thurs., Sept 18, and charged him with breaking into at least 12 apartments between May 28 and Sept. 12 in the Village and Chelsea. The suspect, Michael Legg, was charged with stealing laptop computers, watches, jewelry, personal ID, credit cards and a total of $1,600 in cash, police said.
Legg, 38, was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail pending court appearances later this week on burglary, possession of stolen property and grand larceny charges. The suspect had also used stolen driver’s licenses, a stolen British passport and stolen credit cards to establish charge accounts to buy watches and other merchandise, according to charges filed by the Manhattan district attorney.
The first burglary on May 28 was from an apartment at 228 W. 11th St. Burglaries followed at 2 Jane St. on June 9; 19 W. 15th St. on June 13; 47 W. Eighth St. on June 27 and again on July 30; 52 Bank St. on June 29; 26 W. Eighth St. on July 28; 41 W. 16th St. on Aug. 5; 56 W. 12th St. on Aug. 6; 28 E. 11th St. on Aug. 11; 28 E. 18th St. on Sept. 5, and 136 W. 22nd St. on Sept.15.
Abingdon assault Police arrested four men and charged them with beating and robbing a man sitting in Abingdon Square Park at 2:15 a.m. on Wed., Sept. 10. Brian Rivas, 17; Brian Douglas, 18; and Desmond Glaster, 18, all of Jersey City, were arrested at the scene and were charged with first-degree robbery and assault. Errol Jackson, of the Bronx, was arrested on Sun., Sept. 14, on the same charges. Police said the victim, a waiter, bought one of the victims a soda from a nearby deli and the four hit him in the head with a brick when he returned. They took $250 in cash and a cell phone from the victim, according to reports.
Mad van violence A federal jury on Mon., Sept. 22, found Cao Yi Guo, 40, guilty of assaulting a witness in a criminal case in April of last year involving four defendants convicted of extorting money from private van drivers who shuttle passengers between Chinatown in Manhattan and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Cao was the cousin and associate of Hui Chen, the lead defendant in the extortion trial last year. Cao was arrested last March 26 and charged with assault for dragging from a car a witness who had testified in the trial, then throwing him to the pavement, punching and kicking him and threatening to kill him. Judge Sidney H. Stein denied Cao’s bail application and ordered him held pending a Jan. 9, 2009, sentencing.
Bike rustler returns A week after a bicycle thief — or thieves — cut loose and made off with eight bikes that were chained to a guardrail behind 240 E. Ninth St., a thief returned to the scene at 7:55 p.m. Mon., Sept. 15, and tried to cut the U-lock securing a lone bike to the rail, a resident of the building said. A resident of a ground-floor apartment heard the sound of an electric saw, looked out the window and spied the attempted theft. He shouted at the suspect and phoned police. The bicycle that the thief was trying to steal was one that he missed the previous week, the resident said. The thief fled before police arrived.
Catches purse snatcher A man and a woman were walking on Seventh Ave. South on Tuesday evening Sept. 16 when a stranger came up from behind at Christopher St. and snatched the woman’s bag, police said. Her escort chased the thief, caught up with him at Sixth Ave. and Waverly Place and held him for police after getting a punch in the eye. The suspect, Eddie Lamar, 48, of Brooklyn, was charged with robbery and assault, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Rough entry A woman, 21, told police that three women attacked her at 11:30 p.m. Fri., Sept. 5, as she was going through the turnstile at the Eighth Ave. subway station at 14th St. The three suspects slapped the victim’s face and one of them bit her left hand when she refused to respond to their conversation attempt, police said.
Trash toss Police responded to a report about a fight at Bank and Washington Sts. at 7:30 a.m. Mon., Sept. 15, but left when they found no one. A short time later, police were called again to the scene about a man who smashed a parked car’s hood with a garbage can. They arrested Randy Gonzales, 28, of 465 E. 10th St. in the Jacob Riis Houses, and charged him with criminal mischief.
Gonzales pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to four months in jail.
D.W.I. Police stopped a motorist driving a 2003 Volkswagen at Ninth Ave. and W. 14th St. at 2:45 a.m. Mon., Sept. 15, for a traffic violation. The suspect, Joseph Santangelo, 24, appeared drunk and tested .104 on a field alcohol breath test, police said. The legal limit is .08.
Police saw Richard Ashley, 34, sitting behind the wheel of his car after an accident on the southwest corner of Seventh Ave. South and Barrow St. at 2:15 a.m. Sat., Sept. 20. The officers observed he had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol. He was taken to Bellevue for observation and charged with driving while intoxicated.
Albert Amateau
