Bullets fly on Lower East Side, but luckily, no one was injured
Police responded to gunfire at East Houston and Clinton Sts. on Wed., May 6. A 17-year-old suspect was later arrested nearby at his home at 13 Clinton St. and charged with attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal mischief in connection with the incident. Police said the suspect fired three shots at three young men with whom he had a dispute, then fled to his home between Houston and Stanton Sts. One of the shots hit a car, and another bullet shattered a window above the Banco Popular branch. No one was injured.
Two Village stabbings
Police reported that two suspects stabbed two separate victims in drug-related incidents two blocks from each other in the Village around 4:40 a.m. Thurs., May 21.
In the first attack, the victim was described as a black man, 27, who was standing in front of 147 Waverly Place near Grove St. when two other men began an argument that ended when one of them stabbed the victim in the neck. He was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in serious condition. The suspects were described as black men between 18 and 20 years old, both 5 feet 9 inches tall, one weighing about 140 pounds and the other about 150 pounds.
The second attack occurred about a minute later when two suspects, described only as black men in their 20s, engaged a man identified as Heriberto Martes, 28, of Brooklyn, in an argument in the vicinity of Washington Place and Sixth Ave., where one of them stabbed Martes in the neck. He was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital in critical but stable condition.
Chase ends in river
Police responded to a “robbery in progress” alert at 5:30 p.m. Fri, May 22, in the Alfred E. Smith Houses at Catherine Slip and Cherry St. and were told that three men armed with guns had tried to rob someone in an elevator. On the building’s fourth floor, a woman told police that one of three men who tried to enter her apartment fired a shot that went into the door. Three men were then seen fleeing the complex in different directions and police gave chase. One suspect headed to the East River and jumped in. Police scuba divers pulled him from the water, and the victim was taken to Bellevue for water exposure. The incident was still under investigation at press time on May 26, but police declined to release the arrested suspect’s name. Three officers were injured when two patrol cars crashed at the scene, according to reports. A .25-caliber handgun was found in a trash bin in the housing complex, police said.
Baby dies
Police responded to a call at 1:04 p.m. Wed., May 20, at 466 E. 10th St. and found a 4-month old boy unconscious. The baby was taken to Beth Israel Hospital where he was declared dead at 1:52 p.m. There was no sign of trauma, police said.
Gun and chokehold
A woman, 30, was held up at gunpoint during the early hours of Sun., May 24, near her apartment on Leroy St. near Hudson St., by two robbers who took her bag and fled, police said.
Two muggers put a chokehold on a man, 42, walking on W. 10th St. near Greenwich Ave. near his home around 9:40 p.m. Wed., May 20, police said. The robbers grabbed the victim’s cell phone and tried but failed to take his bag before fleeing.
Canal St. slashing
Police arrested Khoi Duong, 28, on Friday afternoon May 22 for slashing a man who was grocery shopping at 225 Canal St. at Baxter St. The suspect, a Bronx resident, was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon. He was released on his own recognizance pending a Sept. 3 court appearance.
‘Where is the money?’
Three men wearing masks entered Ristorante Barolo, 398 West Broadway, through the back door at 2 a.m. Mon., May 11, and held three employees at gunpoint, police said. The robbers bound the employees with tape and threw them to the floor. “Where is the money?” one of them demanded. They then broke into the safe, took an undisclosed sum of money and fled, police said.
Burglary sentence
Thomas Bynum, 52, a resident of the Bellevue men’s shelter, was arrested Fri., May 15, at 1:30 a.m. for entering a residential building at 68 Thompson St. between Broome and Spring Sts. The suspect had been hanging around the location watching patrons enter and leave a nearby restaurant. Bynum pleaded guilty and was sentenced on May 20 to time served, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Junior phone thief
A Brooklyn man, 27, was walking east on Spring St. near Mercer St. talking on his cell phone on Thursday afternoon May 7 when someone punched him on the back of his head, grabbed his cell phone and ran, police said. The victim chased the thief down Spring St., caught him and got his cell phone back. Police arrested the suspect, a 15-year-old boy whose name was withheld because of his age.
Burglar flees
A resident of 150 Sullivan St. between Prince and West Houston Sts. woke up at 5:30 a.m. Wed., May 20, went into her living room and saw an intruder, who ran out of the apartment and fled north on Sullivan St., police said.
N.Y.U. office theft
A burglar who entered an unlocked office in a New York University building on Mercer St. at W. Fourth St. at about 4:30 p.m. Thurs., May 21, made off with a wallet with $200, the victim’s driver’s license and credit card, police said.
Bad time of day
A man walking on Sixth Ave. at Charlton St. shortly before 8 p.m. on Thurs., May 21, was stopped by a stranger who asked what time it was. When the man pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to check the time, the stranger grabbed the phone and ran, police said. The victim made an initial complaint, but later refused to talk to First Precinct detectives, according to police.
Chanel charade
An employee of the Chanel boutique at 139 Spring St. told police that a well-dressed, tall, dark man tried to buy $3,000 worth of merchandise at 3:10 p.m. Thurs., May 14, with what she deemed to be a fraudulent check, police said. The employee told police the suspect came back later to look around but did not buy anything.
Designer shoplifters
An employee of the Polo Ralph Lauren boutique at 381 West Broadway between Broome and Spring Sts. told police that a man he described only as white took 14 shirts from a shelf in the shop around 4:20 p.m. Tues., May 19, put them in a red shopping bag and left the store without paying the total price of $1,372. An employee of the Lucky Brand jeans boutique at 38 Greene St. said that a woman described as white, about age 30 and 5 feet 5 inches tall, took 50 shirts and tank tops from the shelves and made off without paying for them.
Albert Amateau
