Fatal 3-car crash
A 2005 Audi driven by Brandon Connelly, 32, of Valley Stream, Long Island, crashed into the rear of a 2001 Chevrolet driven by Jamil Aljabal, 42, of Henderson, N.C., at about 4:41 a.m. Sat., May 30, on the southbound F.D.R. Drive near Catherine Slip, police said. The Chevrolet plowed into the concrete median and Connelly’s car struck a third car, police said. An Emergency Medical Services team declared Aljabal, who was driving without a license, dead at the scene in the Chevrolet. Four passengers in the Chevrolet were taken to Bellevue Medical Center in stable condition. Robert Bradley, 38, driver of the third car, a Dodge minivan, was also taken to Bellevue in stable condition. Police charged Connelly with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and driving while intoxicated.
Bravest stop thief
A New Jersey man, 20, was walking on Varick St. at Vandam St. around 6 p.m. Thurs., May 28, when a stranger punched him in the mouth, grabbed his cell phone and ran, police said. The victim gave chase and his yell for help alerted firefighters at the firehouse on Houston St. and Sixth Ave., who apprehended the suspect and held him for police. Allam Lawrence, 18, of Irvington, N.J., was charged with robbery and was being held in lieu of bail pending an Aug. 26 court date.
6th Precinct reinforced
In the wake of a series of street robberies and assaults in the Village, the Sixth Precinct last week received 18 extra officers and two sergeants. In addition, between two and four mounted police, depending on conditions, have been assigned to weekend duty on the Christopher St. corridor. Two lighting towers, one on Christopher and Hudson Sts. and the other on West Fourth St. at Sixth Ave., illuminate the street. A mobile command center is posted on Christopher St. between Washington and Greenwich Sts. to coordinate area anticrime efforts.
‘Gimme your stuff’
Two suspects came up behind a Queens woman, 21, who was walking and talking on her cell phone on Christopher St. near Bedford St. at 12:15 a.m. Wed., May 27, police said. The suspects put a metal object that she thought was a gun to the back of her head and said, “Gimme your stuff,” according to police. The suspects took her cell phone and fled, but three days later police arrested twin brothers, Jerome and Tyrone Bush, 17, of Newark, N.J., for robbery in connection with the incident. The brothers were being held pending a June 6 court appearance.
‘Follow that cab!’
Three young men grabbed a wallet with $80 from the hand of a woman on the northwest corner of Washington Place and Broadway, jumped into a cab and headed down Broadway, police said. The victim stopped a motorist and followed the cab and told 911 the cab’s license number. Police finally stopped the cab at Flatbush Ave. and Willoughby St. in Brooklyn, arrested the suspects and recovered the victim’s wallet and money in the back seat, according to the charges. Manning Messina, 19, and Billy Eidtson and Timothy Hayes, both 22, were charged with robbery. Messina and Eidtson were held, and Hayes was paroled pending a June 3 arraignment, according to the Manhattan district attorney.
E. 14th St. robbery
A disturbed suspect snatched an undetermined sum of cash from the hand of a man in a news shop on E. 14th St. near First Ave. around 9 p.m. Tues., May 26, and fled, police said. The suspect punched the victim, 35, in the face after grabbing the cash and also snatched his cell phone before fleeing.
Hard kiss
A Bayonne, N.J., man accidentally bumped into another patron in Kiss and Fly, the bar at 415 W. 13th St. in the Meatpacking District, around 3:30 a.m. Mon., May 25, and the stranger turned and punched him in the face, police said. The victim, 25, was taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital with a cut lip and a broken tooth. The suspect Daniel Malik, 19, was charged with third-degree assault.
Mugs 91-year-old
A man, 91, who lives in a W. 12th St. building near Greenwich Ave. was mugged in the elevator on Friday afternoon May 29, police said. The robber followed the victim into the elevator at about 1:40 p.m., took the man’s wallet and removed $400 from it that the victim had just withdrawn from the bank, then threw back the wallet and fled at the next floor.
Albert Amateau
