Rutgers Houses murder
A gunman shot two victims, killing one of them, around 5 a.m. Sun., Feb. 21, in the lobby of a Rutgers Houses building at Rutgers and Cherry Sts., police said. Curtis James, 29, was shot in the face and pronounced dead at the scene. The other victim, 19, whom police did not further identify, was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition with a bullet wound in his torso. The shooting came after a dispute, but police did not say the reason for the argument. James’s girlfriend is seven-months pregnant, according to a Daily News item. There were no arrests by press time on Tues., Feb. 23.
Kidnap-rape arrest
Police arrested Wu Song Chen, 53, on charges that he kidnapped and raped a woman, 35, in his Lower East Side apartment on Tues., Feb. 9, and forced her to phone her family in Hong Kong to wire $100,000 for ransom.
The suspect lured the victim to his apartment at 207 Madison St. between Rutgers and Jefferson Sts., menaced her with a knife, tied her to the bed and raped her, according to the charges. The victim was forced to call her family, who attempted to make the wire transfer but failed. She was able to flee the next day and called police, who arrested Chen on Thurs., Feb. 11.
He was being held in lieu of $100,000 cash bail or $300,000 bond pending a March 17 court appearance on first-degree kidnap and rape charges, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Pizzeria punch-up
Two suspects attacked a Chelsea man, 21, and broke his arm around 3:10 a.m. Mon., Feb. 15, in front of Ben’s Pizzeria at MacDougal and W. Third Sts., police said. One suspect body-checked the victim inside the shop, then both suspects followed the man out and attacked him, police said. The victim reported the attack two-and-a-half hours later while being treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital.
Fatal mistake?
A 6-year-old boy died around 9:22 a.m. Thurs., Feb. 18, after an Emergency Medical Services team, summoned at 9:04 a.m. to an apartment at 277 Avenue C, went to Avenue C in Brooklyn first.
Police said they received the 911 call from a distraught woman who gave the address but not the borough and could not respond to a request for the cross streets, according to a Feb. 19 New York Post article.
The paramedics arrived at the Brooklyn address at 9:10 a.m. and determined it was the wrong place. At 9:16, the woman called again and told the operator where she was, but the boy was dead by the time paramedics arrived six minutes later, the Post article said.
McDonald’s melee
Police arrested three suspects for punching and kicking a man, 28, after an argument at 5 a.m. Sun., Feb. 21, in the McDonald’s near the southeast corner of Seventh Ave. and W. 14th St. David Gutterup, 30; Jayson Bocchi, 26; and Kenneth Straker, 27, were charged with felony assault. The victim, a resident of W. 71st St., sustained a dislocated elbow and facial contusions.
Samaritans grab ’em
Two suspects followed a victim, 18, on a No. 2 train from 42nd St./Times Square to the station at Seventh Ave. at 14th St. on Sunday afternoon Feb. 21, and chased him after he left the station, police said. At 13th St. and Seventh Ave., the suspects, one of them armed with a knife, caught the victim, knocked him to the ground and took his iPod. One of the suspects tried to hail a cab, but a woman passerby grabbed and held him, police said. A male passerby grabbed the other suspect. Cesar Rivera and Terrell Holmes, both 17, were charged with robbery. The victim, a Bronx resident, was treated at St. Vincent’s Hospital and released.
Caught with coats
The manager of Sucre, a clothing bou-tique at 357 Bleecker St. near Charles St., stopped a woman outside the shop around 3:30 p.m. Mon., Feb. 8, and charged her with taking three coats without paying the $1,650 price, police said. The suspect, Shelley Bernard, 50, of 251 E. Third St. near Avenue C, was charged with grand larceny.
Big bounce
A reveler at a Meatpacking District club on Little W. 12th St. near Washington St. told police that a bouncer in the place threw him down the stairs around 3 a.m. Sun., Feb. 9. The victim, 20, said his assailant weighed about 300 pounds.
Unchain their love
Four members of Queer Rising, a group advocating for gay, lesbian and transgender persons, who chained themselves together in front of the Marriage License Bureau, at 155 Worth St., Feb. 12, accepted pleas of adjournment contemplating dismissal (A.C.D.’s) from Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. The pleas mean charges against Justin Elzie, Alan Bounville, Gabriel Yuri Bollag and Jake Goodman — who were protesting that lesbian, gay and transgender couples cannot get marriage licenses — would be dismissed after six months if they are not arrested again during that time.
Attorneys Yetta Kurland and Ted Bohn, who appeared for the defendants, thanked Vance for recognizing that the defendants, charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration, should not be treated as criminals.
Hit by D train, DOA
A woman was found dead on the tracks of the W. Fourth St. subway station on Sixth Ave. around 5:31 a.m. Fri., Feb. 19, after she was hit by a southbound D train, said police, who described the victim only as white and in her 40s.
DOA on L.E.S.
Police responded to a 911 call about an unconscious woman at 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 20, inside an apartment in the Bialystoker residence, 15 Willett St., on the Lower East Side. The victim, whom police described only as white and 54 years old, was declared dead on arrival at the scene by an Emergency Medical Services team. The Medical Examiner is investigating the cause of death and the release of the woman’s name was pending family notification.
Clothes collar
Police arrested two suspects on Sixth Ave. near W. Third St. on Thursday afternoon Feb. 18 and charged them with possession of stolen property. William Ray, 37, a resident of W. 55th St., was carrying a jacket and two dresses stolen from Barney’s, and his accomplice, Deshawn Davis, 34, of Brooklyn, was carrying two blazers and a dress taken from Banana Republic, police said. They were held for arraignment this week.
Bar intruder
The manager of a bar at the corner of W. Houston and Wooster Sts. scared off an unidentified burglar whom he found prowling in an office in the back of the bar just after midnight Sun., Feb. 21, police said.
Albert Amateau
