Fake UPS robber caught
Police arrested William Rodriguez, 52, a career criminal suspected in a series of push-in robberies while posing as a deliveryman and targeting elderly women in the Village and the Upper West Side. He was identified by three of the victims in a Nov. 5 lineup at the Manhattan Robbery Squad on E. 12th St.
One of the three victims who identified the suspect was held up at 5 p.m. Oct. 29 outside her apartment at 29 Bank St., when the suspect pressed a metal object against her neck, pushed inside, bound her and fled with cash and computer equipment, according to the charges filed by the Manhattan district attorney.
Another victim was entering her apartment at 149 W. 12th St. at 5:10 p.m. Nov. 2 when the suspect displayed a knife, pushed her in, tied her up and stole her bag, the complaint says. The third victim was robbed on Wednesday afternoon Nov. 4 when the suspect followed her into her apartment at 173 W. 83rd St., menaced her with a knife, bound her hands and feet, and fled with jewelry and a computer, the complaint says.
Rodriquez, a Bronx man with 17 prior arrests over the past 20 years, is also suspected in similar robberies at 37 Bank St. on Oct. 16, at 50 W. Ninth St. on Oct. 8 and a knifepoint robbery of two women in an apartment on West End Ave. at 106th St. on Oct. 25.
Rodriguez was paroled in August after serving jail time for a 2006 Nassau County burglary, according to a New York Post item.
Put her in chokehold
Police arrested Lance Stewartson, 38, on Oct. 22 and charged him with pushing into an apartment on Bleecker and Christopher Sts. at 12:15 a.m. as the woman resident was entering, putting her in a chokehold and stealing her bag when she passed out. A witness saw the suspect leaving the building and phoned 911 for police. Stewartson was being held pending a Nov. 24 court appearance on burglary, robbery and stolen property possession charges, a Manhattan D.A. spokesperson said.
Ladies’ loo attack
Police arrested Junior Loarte, 29, during the early hours of Sat., Nov. 7, and charged him with attacking a woman patron in the bathroom of Slane Public House, a bar at 102 MacDougal St. Loarte followed the woman into the restroom, knocked her to the floor and groped her. He was being held pending arraignment on first-degree sexual abuse charges.
Arrest in two burglaries
Three suspects were arrested around 2:30 p.m. Oct. 28 and charged with entering a second-floor apartment on Bedford and Leroy Sts. and stealing CD’s, DVD’s and other items, police said. The suspects, Raymond Morales, 25, of 233 W. 10th St., and Jeanetta Taylor, 19, and Robert Pena, 20, both of the Bronx, were arrested after a neighbor heard loud noise next door and phoned police.
Morales and Taylor were also charged with breaking into a third-floor apartment at 23 Jones St., near Bleecker St. at 1:30 a.m. the night before and stealing Gucci sunglasses, a laptop computer and a watch. Morales and Taylor were being held pending a Dec. 11 court appearance, and Pena was being held pending a Dec. 2 court date.
Chain lashing
An unidentified man attacked a victim, 52, on the corner of Prince and Sullivan Sts. around 9 p.m. Sun., Nov. 1, and hit him over the head with a chain and fled, police said.
Essex St. menacing
Police arrested Matthew Senquiz, 16, on Oct. 30 and charged him with threatening the host of a party at 103 Essex St. near Delancey St. with a box cutter after a Friday night argument with the 44-year-old man. Senquiz was freed pending a Dec. 7 court appearance on charges of menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
Hate-crime suspects
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilmember Diana Reyna, of Brooklyn, distributed fliers on Nov. 10 at Delancey and Clinton Sts. seeking three suspects who severely beat Mario Vera, a Mexican immigrant, on Sept. 23 somewhere between a Lower East Side food pantry and his home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Police said Vera’s wife walked into the 83rd Precinct on Oct. 9 to report that her husband had been beaten by suspects who made anti-Mexican statements.
Albert Amateau
