Seek second-story man
Crime Stoppers will pay up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspect or suspects who gained entrance into Soho and Village apartments via fire escapes or rooftop patio doors from Sept. 28, 2011, to the present. A heavyset Hispanic man in his late 20s to mid-30s with close-cut hair, medium complexion and stocky build was recorded on surveillance tape leaving the buildings with stolen property concealed in shopping bags.
All callers to Crime Stoppers (1-800-577-TIPS) remain anonymous. Callers regarding this series of burglaries should refer to Crime Stoppers poster number M-932.
‘Cat Lady’ sentenced
Shana Spalding, who sang under the name of Purgatory with the death-metal band Divine Infamy, and who was convicted on Dec. 13 of the armed holdup of an Arche Shoe boutique on Astor Place in June 2010 and a Cotelac boutique at 92 Greene St. in August 2010, was sentenced on Wed., Feb. 1, to 10 years in prison. Spalding, 27, was known as the “Cat Lady” because she wore a cat mask during the Astor Place robbery and during a previous robbery in Queens. At her sentencing she protested that she was not a violent person and had not displayed the toy gun that she had in her possession when she held up the Greene St. shop.
Van bursts into flames
A 2001 Dodge van burst into flames at the intersection of Canal and Centre Sts. around 1:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 2, but the driver, 47, escaped without injury, according to reports. The fire closed the street for two hours, according to an item in the New York Post.
Stroller was cleaned out
A woman, 39, visiting from London, stopped at Barolo Restaurant, 398 W. Broadway near Spring St., around 5 p.m. Sat., Jan. 28, took her baby from her stroller and left the stroller with her handbag in it with the staff, who put it in a nearby room. When the woman went to retrieve the stroller, she discovered the bag was gone, along with her wallet, credit cards, $90 in cash and some diapers and Pampers.
Car break-in
A woman told police on Sat., Feb. 4, that she parked her 2010 Volvo in an Icon Parking garage, at 308 Greenwich St., near Chambers St. at 10:30 p.m. Mon., Dec. 19, and left her gold chain necklace with a heart pendant in the cup holder. She returned the next day to discover the necklace, valued at $1,800, was gone. The victim said she parked frequently at the garage, but there was no explanation for the eight-week delay in reporting.
E. 14th bank robbery
Police are seeking public assistance identifying a suspect who robbed the Apple Bank branch at 4 Irving Place in the Con Edison building on E. 14th St. shortly after noon on Wed., Feb 1. The suspect, described as a black man between 55 and 60 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 150 pounds, wearing glasses, a dark-colored hat and a New York Mets jacket, passed a demand note to a teller and fled with an undetermined sum of cash. Tips may be phoned in to Crime Stoppers, 1-800-577-TIPS.
Robbery duo
Police are looking for two suspects who held up a Metro PCS cell phone store at 350 E. 14th St. twice last month, on Jan. 6 and Jan. 20, making off with cash and an employee’s cell phone. One of the robbers is also a suspect in the gunpoint robbery on Dec. 12 of a Health Source pharmacy on Second Ave. at 69th St.
Her ride was gone
A Soho woman, 20, parked her motorcycle opposite 525 Broome St. near Sullivan St. around 3 p.m. Wed., Feb. 6, near her place of work and returned at 5:30 p.m. to find it had been stolen.
Wallet lifted
A Brooklyn woman, 32, told police she was shopping in the crowded Lot Less discount store at 95 Fulton St. in the Civic Center area around 4 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 2, and discovered when she went to pay for her purchases that her bag was open and her wallet was gone. The victim remembered being bumped a few times while shopping.
Beer-pong suit a bust
A Manhattan Supreme Court justice dismissed a New Jersey man’s lawsuit against Wicked Willy’s on Bleecker St. for unspecified damages because he got hit by a car and seriously injured near his home in June 2009 after he became totally wasted at a beer pong session with his friends at the Village bar. The suit charged that Wicked Willy’s organized and set up, but failed to monitor the game in the back of the bar, according to a New York Post report. But Justice Lucy Billings found that while bars can be responsible for drunk patrons injuring someone else, they are not necessarily responsible for someone being injured themselves. Beer pong players play at their own risk, Billings found.
Albert Amateau
