Standard rape attempt
Police arrested a Queensland, Australia, man in the Standard Hotel, which straddles the High Line in the Gansevoort Market District, and charged him with attempted rape for attacking a chambermaid in his hotel room Sat., Nov. 7.
Matthew Moorhouse, 42, grabbed the woman after a brief conversation around 4:28 p.m., threw her on the bed and pinned her arms down, kissed her neck and face and forced his fingers into her clothed genitals, according to the complaint filed by the Manhattan district attorney. The victim struggled and screamed, but Moorhouse pulled his pants down and demanded that she touch him, according to the complaint. When another hotel employee attracted by the victim’s screams knocked on the door and entered, the victim escaped and called police.
Moorhouse was charged with first-degree attempted rape, sexual abuse and second-degree unlawful imprisonment. He was being held pending a Nov. 30 court appearance. Moorhouse was identified in a New York Post article as having dated Rani Kamal, an Australian pop star. His mother and an uncle in Australia told the Post that Moorhouse had never been in trouble before.
Parkgoers on the High Line have seen Standard Hotel guests in front of their picture windows overlooking the elevated park displaying themselves in lewd, naked poses.
E. Fifth St. bashing
Four teenagers were taken to the hospital with bloody but non-life-threatening injuries around 11 p.m. Nov. 14 after they were attacked by a group of 15 to 20 older Hispanic males who stopped them on E. Fifth St. near Avenue C and told them to get off the block, police said. The suspects beat the victims with beer bottles and fled, police said. No other weapons were involved in the attack and police are investigating the incident.
Soho hotel burglary
Police arrested Sylvia Daly, 18, of Brooklyn, and Jeremy Roman, 17, of the Upper West Side, on Sat., Nov. 7, and charged them with burglary in connection with the Sept. 20 theft of a laptop computer and a cell phone from a room in the Sohotel, at 341 Broome St., police said. Daly was paroled pending a Nov. 19 court appearance, and Roman was paroled pending a Feb. 4, court date, according to a spokesperson for the Manhattan D.A.
Bias assault
Police are investigating an anti-gay assault of a man, 26, in front of P.S. 1 on Catherine and Henry Sts. at 5 a.m. Tues., Nov. 10. The victim told police that a man and a woman in their 30s shouted anti-gay remarks as they walked past him and then punched him in the face and fled. The victim was treated at New York Downtown Hospital for minor injuries.
Legacy School arrest
Police arrested Saiha Hassan, 17, inside Legacy High School, 34 W. 14th St., at 1:35 p.m. Thurs., Nov. 12, and charged him with assault. Police said Hassan refused to obey a school security officer’s order to leave, and hit her, causing injury to the guard’s hand and lower back.
Bleecker main breaks
A 12-inch water main broke at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine Sts. around 4:30 p.m. Sun., Nov. 15, a city Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson said. The break flooded the street and deprived five businesses and about 30 residents between Bleecker St. and Sixth Ave. of water until the section of the 79-year-old main was replaced. Service resumed Monday morning.
Bar double trouble
A woman patron of Wicked Willy’s, 149 Bleecker St., put her bag on the bar around 2 a.m. Thurs., Nov. 5, and discovered it missing a half-hour later. She reported the theft two hours later, and police arrested Marc Castro, 35, who was identified in a surveillance video.
Police arrested David D’Aranjo, 25, in front of Jekyll & Hyde, 91 Seventh Ave. South, around 1 a.m. Thurs., Nov. 5, and charged him with criminal mischief for breaking the glass in the bar’s locked door. Police said the suspect punched the door when he found it was locked and caused the glass pane to fall out.
Check-fraud attempt
A Chase bank manager at an unidentified branch location discovered that an $8,600 check deposited in his branch was forged, but the suspect was arrested at 3:30 p.m. Mon., Nov. 2, when he presented a $4,600 check at the Chase branch at 835 Broadway. Naeem Harris, 18, was charged with attempted grand larceny.
Bar punch
Charles Muller, 29, of Lindenhurst, L.I., was arrested at 1:15 a.m. Sun., Nov. 11, and charged with third-degree assault for punching a fellow patron of the Village Pourhouse, 64 Third Ave. at E. 11th St. The victim, 23, who was not seriously hurt, did not know the suspect, police said.
Soho market theft
An employee of Jubilee Market, 447 Broadway, left his office at 1:34 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 22, and returned at 3 p.m. to discover that $1,700 had been taken from a cabinet, police said. A surveillance camera recorded a stranger, a white man, in his 20s, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 190 pounds, entering the office through an open door after the employee left, police said.
Motorbike stolen
A Village man who parked his 2009 Yamaha motorbike in front of 143 Waverly Place at 9:30 a.m. Tues., Nov. 10, returned at 6:45 p.m. and found it had been stolen, police said.
Albert Amateau
