Bernie Goetz gets smoked
Police arrested Bernard Goetz, 66, after he allegedly tried to sell marijuana to an undercover officer in Union Square.
Goetz is the infamous vigilante who shot four black teenagers on a subway train in 1984, claiming he thought they were going to rob him.
On the night of Fri., Nov. 1, Goetz reportedly approached the female undercover cop in Union Square Park and asked her if she wanted to get high. Shortly afterward, he walked back to his home on 14th St. and returned with $30 worth of pot wrapped in a napkin, police said.
Goetz was charged with criminal sale of marijuana and unlawful possession of marijuana. He later told the New York Post, in response to a question, that he “wasn’t high” when he gunned down the youths in 1984.
“To perform as good as that, with shooting, I don’t think you could do it stoned,” the Post quoted Goetz as saying, after he was released from custody following his arraignment on the drug charges.
Goetz is scheduled to appear in court again Dec. 18.
Busted for bogus T-shirts
Police arrested Roville Norman, 51, who was allegedly selling clothing with fake name-brand labels near Union Square on Sun., Nov. 3.
Around 3:15 p.m., an officer approached Norman’s sidewalk stand on Broadway, between E. 13th and 14th Sts., and spotted 10 T-shirts that featured a falsely copied version of the Burberry trademark. The officer immediately shut down the stand and handcuffed the allegedly bogus peddler.
Norman was charged with trademark counterfeiting. He reportedly told the arresting officer that the shirts were $15 each, when the officer inquired before busting him.
Phone snatcher
Police said Khalid Herdigein, 38, was arrested after he snatched a cell phone out of a man’s pocket early on Sat., Nov. 2.
A witness told patrolling cops that, around 2:30 a.m., Herdigein was rifling through the man’s pockets while they were both standing at the intersection of Barrow and W. Fourth Sts. The officers were able to spot the alleged thief before he could get far, and minutes later apprehended him and found the stolen phone.
Herdigein was charged with grand larceny.
Strange slasher
Police said Nole Guipson, 35, was arrested after he attacked an unwitting man on a Meatpacking District sidewalk early on Fri., Nov. 1.
The alleged victim, 22, told cops that he was ordering food at a halal cart near the corner of W. 14th and Hudson Sts. around 4:30 a.m.,when he saw Guipson chasing two people down the sidewalk. Guipson then reportedly approached the man and cut the man’s hand with an unknown sharp object, then fled south on Hudson St.
His hand bleeding, the man was able to flag down a police car seconds later, and officers collared Guipson shortly after canvassing the area. Guipson was charged with assault, although the object he allegedly used to slash the victim was not recovered.
Punched a police officer
Police arrested Jose Rivera, 35, after he allegedly attacked a uniformed officer near Sheridan Square early on Fri., Nov. 1.
The cop was trying to break up a fight between Rivera and another man near the corner of Bleecker and Christopher Sts. around 4 a.m., when Rivera turned and began punching the officer, police said. The officer was treated for minor injuries at Lutheran Medical Center in Midtown, after other officers subdued the aggressor. Rivera was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
Soho manhole fires
Authorities evacuated around 100 people from two buildings after several manholes on a Soho block caught fire on Nov. 4.
The blazes started shortly after 3 p.m., on Broadway between Spring and Broome Sts., and about 60 firefighters responded to the scene minutes later, a Fire Department spokesperson said. The flames were contained and put out by around 4 p.m.
The buildings at 520 and 524 Broadway were both evacuated because of briefly elevated carbon monoxide levels from the fires, officials said. No injuries were reported.
Sam Spokony
