Pot-related shooting
Two masked men entered a third-floor Bleecker St. apartment on Monday night, purportedly to buy marijuana, and shot two victims before fleeing with an undisclosed sum of cash, police said.
One of the victims, Alex Bongard, 24, was identified in Daily News and New York Post articles as the son of Debra LaMorte, New York University senior vice president for development and alumni affairs. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition with a bullet in his chest.
The other victim, Lucas Hinde, 31, served an Arizona prison term for a marijuana-related conviction, and at the end of last year led Utah police on a high-speed desert chase after police dogs sniffed pot in his car, according the Post and News. Hinde was taken to Bellevue in stable condition with a bullet in his chest.
Also in the apartment at 185 Bleecker St. during the 11:30 p.m. shooting was Alissa Adler, 27, a companion of the two victims, who called 911 after the incident. She was not hurt but the suspects took money from her bag before fleeing. There were no arrests by press time on Wednesday
Police found an undisclosed amount of marijuana in the apartment where Bongard lives, according to reports. His father, Burton Bongard, 69, is a hotel executive in Florida who served a prison term in Ohio after conviction in a 1985 savings-and-loan scandal.
Knifepoint robbery
The owner of Once Upon a Time antiques jewelry store, at 36 E. 11th St., buzzed in an apparent prospective customer around 2:25 p.m. Fri., Oct. 22, who wanted to look at a $12,000 bracelet. While examining the bracelet, the man suddenly grabbed the owner and put a knife to her neck. But he fled when her screams attracted two passersby. A police radio description enabled officers canvassing the area to arrest Carlos Mourao, 62, as he was entering the PATH station on W. Ninth St. at Sixth Ave. The victim identified the suspect, who was charged with robbery. Mourao was carrying a pocketknife and had a 10-inch kitchen knife in his bag, police said.
Dirty dealer
A three-card monte dealer who worked various sidewalk locations on Broadway near Prince St. was arrested Saturday afternoon Oct. 30 for snatching money from the hands of victims, police said. Keith Jackson, 54, urged victims to step closer by saying, “It’s easy, you’ll win. You just need to show me your money,” police said. The suspect grabbed a $100 bill from one victim, $80 from another victim and $500 from a third, according to the complaint filed with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Thieving quartet
Three women and a man stopped a woman, 28, walking on the south side of King St. between Varick St. and Sixth Ave. around 10:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 20, knocked the wallet she had in her hand to the pavement and pepper-sprayed her, police said. One of the thieves picked up the wallet, with $20 cash, a bank card, a MetroCard and the victim’s U.S. passport, and fled with the three accomplices south on Sixth Ave.
Grabs iPhone
An employee of Dell’Anima, the restaurant at 38 Eighth Ave. near Jane St., was talking on his cell phone outside the place shortly before 1 p.m. Wed., Oct. 27, when a stranger grabbed it and fled, police said.
Heroin and cocaine
Sixth Precinct police arrested Kenneth Thorpe, 54 and Janet Bailey, 57, in a parked car at the southeast corner of Seventh Ave. South and Bedford St. in the Village at about 3 a.m. Sat., Oct. 30, with more than five ounces of cocaine and 35 prefolded doses of heroin. Because of the amounts of the drugs, Thorpe and Bailey were charged with possession with intent to sell. Bailey was also smoking a marijuana joint when police made the arrest, according to the complaint filed with the office of District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.
‘Put the 20’s in a bag’
Two men walked into a deli at 353 E. 14th St. at First Ave. at 11:24 a.m. Mon., Oct. 18, and one of them announced, “I’m going to give you a minute. Put the 20’s in a bag. Don’t make me pull out my gun.” The attendant, who saw what looked like a gun in one suspect’s pocket, handed over a bag with $156. The suspects fled, only to be arrested a short time later with the money. Michael Nunn, 26, and Ernest Nesby, 21, were charged with robbery.
Arrest in ID theft
Police arrested Shahena Wright, 30, on Mon., Oct. 25, and charged her with grand larceny for a $17,500 theft last July involving a fake driver’s license and a false bank card. Wright was charged with using a Virginia woman’s name on both a Citibank credit card and a Virginia driver’s license on July 11 to buy fancy sound equipment from the Bose store at 465 Broadway near Grand St. The suspect charged $8,832 at the store on the morning of July 11 and followed with a charge of $8,707 later that day, police said
Blazing bartender
Albert Trummer, a partner in Apotheke, a bar at 8 Doyers St. in Chinatown, has been ordered to stay away from the place in connection with a reckless endangerment charge, according to a New York Post item. Trummer, who professes to be a “cocktail artist,” is charged with setting the bar top at Apotheke on fire in June as part of his signature demonstration. In connection with the reckless endangerment charge, Trummer is being sued by his Apotheke partners, who charge that he sprayed four bottles of Champagne on the bar top and smashed two bottles of Sambuca, which he tried to light with a match on Oct. 17, the Post item said.
Halloween booboos
Police arrested 16 people for raising too much hell during the annual Halloween parade on Sixth Ave. last Sunday. There were also 205 summonses issued, including 147 for open alcohol containers and 14 for public urination, police said.
Hit by train
A man waiting for a No. 2 train at the Seventh Ave. station at 14th St. on Saturday afternoon Oct. 30 was critically injured when he leaned over the platform and an incoming train hit him in the head. Will Rokos, 57, identified in a New York Post item as an actor and the writer of the 2002 film “Monster’s Ball,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination, was semiconscious after the incident and was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.
Albert Amateau
