Officer injured
Police arrested Joseph Dellutri, 59, on Friday night May 13 and charged him with running down and injuring a Sixth Precinct undercover police officer a half-block from Washington Square Park, before leading police on a 15-block chase until he hit another car at West and Jane Sts. and was apprehended.
The incident started at 11:48 p.m. in front of 73 Washington Place when two plainclothes officers were about to arrest three suspects in a drug sale. Dellutri came up behind them with a cell phone, taping the arrest, police said. When one of the officers ordered him to back off and let them make the arrests, Dellutri got into his minivan, mounted the sidewalk and ran into one of the cops, pinning him against an iron fence which was partially torn from its concrete footings by the impact, police said.
Dellutri backed up and again drove at the same officer, but his partner pulled him out of the way, police said. The two officers got in a cab and went to Bellevue Hospital where the injured officer, Michael Susana, 34, a nine-year New York Police Department veteran, was treated. The suspected drug dealer and his two customers, who were knocked down during the incident, fled.
Dellutri was driving around the block when witnesses pointed out his minivan to uniformed officers who arrived at the scene. They chased Dellutri to West and Jane Sts. where the suspect struck another car and was apprehended as he was fleeing on foot.
According to a New York Times article, Dellutri, of Hartsdale, N.Y., had had an encounter two years ago with the partner of the injured officer. Dellutri is charged with assaulting a police officer and the case is still under investigation.
Fatal L.E.S. accident
A woman who was struck by a private sanitation truck while crossing Essex St. at Delancey St. at 3:30 p.m. Tues., May 10, died of her injuries later at Bellevue Hospital. Patricia Cuevas, 51, was crossing from west to east when she was hit and fell under the rear wheels of the eastbound truck, police said. The driver remained at the scene and there was no criminality involved, police said.
The intersection is the most dangerous on the Lower East Side, with 119 motor vehicles hitting pedestrians and cyclists between 1998 and 2008, according to Paul Steely White, Transportation Alternatives executive director.
State Senator Daniel Squadron said, “Even with welcome improvements put in place by the Department of Transportation, Essex and Delancey continues to be one of the most dangerous intersections in the city.” He pledged to work with the city for more safety measures.
City Councilmember Margaret Chin said the current traffic pattern at the intersection is unacceptable.
“This neighborhood is home to many senior centers, schools and has experienced increase foot traffic in recent years,” she noted. Chin, Squadron and Kurt Cavanaugh, of the East Side Streets Coalition, called for a redesign of the intersection.
Stabbing-murder arrest
Police arrested Charles Meredith, 46, on Fri., May 13, and charged him with the May 11 stabbing death of Stewart Rhodes, 50, in Stanton House, the treatment center at 190 Stanton St. An argument between the suspect and the victim turned violent at about 3:20 a.m. when the suspect pulled a kitchen knife and plunged it several times into the victim’s torso, police said. Rhodes was taken to Beth Israel Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The suspect fled but police found a discarded kitchen knife at the scene. Meredith, a Brooklyn resident, was said to be a recent patient at the center and a roommate of the victim. He is being held on a charge of second-degree murder.
iScammer
James Smith, 48, was arrested Wed., May 4, and charged with first-degree fraud and larceny in connection with seven incidents on the Lower East Side, in the East Village and Soho in April and May.
On April 7 around 4 p.m., Smith took $400 from a man at 229 Christie St. and promised to deliver two iPhones and an iPad. He walked away and said he would return with the items. He also took $300 from a second victim at the same location around the same time and promised to return with an iPad and an iBook but he never came back, police said.
Another victim told police he met Smith in the Subway restaurant at the corner of Mulberry and Houston Sts. on April 24 around 7:50 p.m. and gave him $400 for a MacBook computer. Smith never returned with the computer, police said.
He took $150 from a man in front of 120 Wooster St. around 4 p.m. on May 3, promised to come back with an iPad but never returned.
On April 24 he fleeced two victims on the corner of 13th St. and Fourth Ave., took $1,200 from them ostensibly for an iPad and a MacBook Pro laptop.
On May 9 he met the seventh victim at 104 E. 14th St. and took $400 for two iPads and two MacBook Pro laptops but never returned with the goods.
Smith is in jail in lieu of $6,000 bail or $20,000 bond pending a June 9 court appearance.
Indict murder suspect
Raul Barrera, charged with the brutal April 10 stabbing murder of his girlfriend, Sarah Coit, in their apartment at 63 Clinton St., was indicted last week for second-degree murder. Barrera, 33, was arraigned May 12 when his statement to police after he turned himself in to police was admitted as evidence. He said the 23-year-old victim “swung the butcher knife” and then said, “I hit her in the back. There’s a lot of blood.” Barrera was arrested last year for assaulting a man in Midtown. He worked freelance for public relations companies.
Sneaker faker
Police arrested Ronice Sahadeo, 29, on Fri., May 6, and charged her with using a fraudulent credit card in an attempt to buy a pair of $1,400 French sneakers, Lanvin Paris Kicks, at Jeffrey, 449 W. 14th St., in the Meatpacking District. Police found five other counterfeit credit cards with her name on them. Sahadeo has previous convictions for identity theft, according to a New York Post item. She was being held in lieu of bail pending a July 27 court appearance on identity theft and attempted larceny.
Christopher St. busts
Three men were arrested at 7:17 p.m. Thurs., May 12, for trying to take money from an automatic teller machine at 79 Christopher St. between W. Fourth and Bleecker Sts. with stolen credit cards. Trevor Warren, 19; Jerome Loach, 22; and Christopher Robinson, 18, were charged with larceny.
In another incident, Frank Nally, 57, was arrested in front of The Hangar bar, 115 Christopher St., at 4:15 a.m. Sat., May 14, and charged with criminal mischief for punching and breaking the bar’s front window.
Bar predators
Police arrested a man and three women for stealing credit cards, a cell phone and $120 from a woman patron in the Amity Hall pub, 80 W. Third St., at 11 p.m. Fri., May 13. Christopher Saintil, 30; Andrea Walker, 18; Kanya Russell, 18; and Shaquisha Fouks, 19, were charged with larceny.
Albert Amateau
