Fake UPS robber strikes again
Police are seeking a suspect who poses as a UPS deliveryman and invaded four Village homes between Oct. 8 and Nov. 2. The suspect was described as a white or Hispanic man between 40 and 50 years old, between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet 2 inches tall, medium build, wearing a gray, zippered sweatshirt, blue jeans, tan boots and carrying a red book bag.
The latest incident that police reported was at 4:30 p.m. Mon., Nov. 2, when the suspect knocked at an apartment at 149 W. 12th St., said he was a deliveryman and pushed his way in when the woman victim, 79, opened the door. He hit her in the mouth, tied her up, took unspecified property and fled.
On Thurs., Oct. 29, the suspect again posed as a deliveryman at an apartment at 29 Bank St. and forced his way in when a female victim, 51 opened the door. He displayed a sharp, metal object, tied the victim up and fled with a laptop computer and other electronic equipment.
On Fri., Oct 16, he knocked at an apartment at 37 Bank St., at 4:30 p.m., asked the 84-year-old woman who answered the door for a glass of water, and entered when she went to get it. He fled with a cell phone and a watch before she returned with the water.
On Thurs., Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. the housekeeper, 53, of an apartment at 50 W. Ninth St. was vacuuming the carpet after taking out the garbage when the suspect grabbed her from behind, brandished a sharp object, tied her up with the vacuum cleaner cord and fled with cash and electronic equipment.
The suspect is also believed to have entered an apartment on W. 106th St. and West End Ave. shortly before 7 p.m. Sun., Oct. 25, where he threatened two women, one 26 and the other 61, with a knife, bound them and fled with a cell phone, a laptop computer, a ring and cash.
The public can report information to www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by phoning 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
Bobst Library suicide
A New York University student apparently jumped at 4:30 a.m. Tues., Nov. 3, from one of the high floors of the university’s Bobst Library to his death in the Washington Square South building’s main lobby. Police identified the victim as Andrew Williamson, 20.
In an e-mail to the Gothamist Web site, a student who was studying at the library said he heard a loud boom and saw the victim lying on the lobby floor. In an e-mail comment on the Gothamist item, another student said that while computer and study lounges in the library are always open, the stacks close regularly at 11 p.m.
After two suicide jumps from Bobst balconies in 2003 and 2004, plexiglass panels were installed to prevent similar occurrences.
John Beckman, N.Y.U. spokesperson, said in a prepared statement on Tuesday afternoon, “The death of a College of Arts and Science junior early this morning in Bobst Library is a matter of great sorrow for the N.Y.U. community… . While the cause of this death is still being determined, indications are that he took his own life… . The university has been in touch with the family to convey the condolences of the N.Y.U. community.”
N.Y.U. president John Sexton told a reporter for Washington Square News, the undergraduate newspaper, shortly before 10 a.m. on Tuesday, “We always mourn when a terrific young person passes. We have to find out how and why, of course, and then work through it. The first thing is to take care of folks [students].”
Beckman reminded students that the school Wellness Exchange at 212-443-9999 is offering counseling and other assistance to grieving and anxious students.
Morandi gunfire
A burst of gunfire outside Morandi, Keith McNally’s tony Italian trattoria at Seventh Ave. at Waverly Place, at 1:40 a.m. Sun., Nov. 1, several hours after the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade, resulted in minor injuries to four men, according to police.
The injured men walked into the nearby St. Vincent’s Hospital emergency room, police said. Three of the victims had graze wounds to the leg, and one was shot in the arm. All of the victims, between the ages of 19 and 26, were in stable condition. According to witnesses, the incident started in front of the restaurant. There were no arrests and police were investigating the incident.
Aussie cam scam
A visitor from New South Wales, Australia, told police that a stranger offered to take a photo of her with her camera in the Hudson River Park at W. 14th and West Sts. at 9 p.m. Sun., Oct. 18. The visitor, 25, gave the man her camera and posed but the stranger ran off with it. The camera was valued at $800.
iPhone filched
A man entered the Apple Store at 401 W. 14th St. at 6 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 15, grabbed an iPhone on display, broke the security cable that held it to the wall and fled, police said. The incident was recorded on a surveillance camera, but there was no arrest.
BlackBerry mugging bust
A Brooklyn man was attacked on the southwest corner of Christopher St. and Waverly Place at 3:25 a.m. Thurs., Oct. 22, by a suspect who punched him in the face, pushed him to the ground and took his wallet and BlackBerry from his pocket, police said. While the victim, 33, continued to struggle, the suspect removed cash from the wallet and fled. Police arrested Paul Lopez, 31, at Seventh Ave. South and Christopher St. When he was arrested, the suspect was clutching the $18 he took from the victim’s wallet, police said.
Weehawken rob
Police arrested Darkquon Battle, 23, on Oct. 17 and charged him with robbing a man, 29, in front of 173 Christopher St. near Weehawken St. at 1:47 a.m. Sat., Oct. 17. The suspect is charged with putting a hard object to the victim’s neck, demanding his wallet, then punching him and taking the wallet. Police said Battle was in possession of the victim’s wallet and $20 when he was arrested.
Market mug ’n’ slash
A robber snatched $19 from the hand of a man, 44, shopping in the Union Square Greenmarket at 17th St. at 11:30 a.m. Fri., Oct. 23, and fled after he slashed the victim in the face with an unidentified instrument, police said.
Rear window
A burglar entered a fourth-floor apartment at 233 W. 15th St. sometime between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Fri., Oct. 23, through an unlocked rear window on a fire escape, and made off with the resident’s wallet with $40 in cash, credit cards and driver’s license, police said.
Tagger is tagged
Police arrested Anthony Hopson, 33, in front of an office building at 40 W. 11th St. at 3:30 p.m. Sat., Oct. 17, and charged him with criminal mischief for scratching his tag, “Van,” with an etching stone on the glass surfaces of seven locations in the area. He was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon after a box cutter was found in his pocket, police said.
Albert Amateau
