‘Glove Bandit’ guilty
The bank robber known as the “White Glove Bandit” pleaded guilty to holding up two Greenwich Village banks on Tues., Sept. 11, in Manhattan Federal Court.
Michael McManus, 43, had been arrested in Tompkins Square Park in April, and was turned over to the F.B.I. due to his long record of robberies, which date back to 1992. The day before his arrest, McManus robbed an H.S.B.C. bank on Broadway and E. Ninth St. at gunpoint, after having robbed the same bank in January, according to court documents. He also struck twice at the Citibank on LaGuardia Place, first in February and then in March.
McManus faces up to nearly 16 years in prison, and will be sentenced on Dec. 13.
Sex assaulter sentenced
Michael Torres, who in February sexually assaulted a woman in the subway station at Bowery and Delancey Sts. after threatening her with a knife, was sentenced to at least 13 years in prison on Tues., Sept. 4.
Torres, 29, had previously pleaded guilty to the crime, in which he accosted a 36-year-old woman who had just exited a J train, dragged her off the platform to a secluded area and forced her to perform oral sex on him, according to court documents. In addition to two counts of predatory sexual assault, he was convicted of attempted rape and reckless endangerment.
Copped subway copper
Police and the Metropolitan Transit Authority are investigating anonymous claims that a Sept. 7 fire in the Delancey-Essex Sts. subway station was started by thieves who have been stealing copper from around the train tracks.
An M.T.A. official said that while the claims are being treated seriously, the agency does not know who provided the tip about the alleged wire theft operation — which was widely reported in the media on the day of the fire. The official added that nothing like this has been observed in any other area subway stations.
The Sept. 7 fire forced the M.T.A. to suspend service on the J, M and Z lines for several hours that afternoon, and firefighters had to evacuate about 500 passengers from the station. No one was injured.
Stunning arrest
Phillip Vinson, 25, shouldn’t have been too shocked to find himself under arrest for criminal possession of a weapon on Wed., Sept. 12, when police found 15 electric stun guns stashed in his car.
Vinson had been pulled over around 3 a.m. for making a right turn without signaling at the corner of Weehawken and Christopher Sts., near the West Side Highway, police said. When the officers asked him to step out, they saw two Taser-style guns clipped to his belt — and the other 13 turned up when they searched the car. After being arrested, Vinson admitted to having just transported the electrical weapons over state lines.
Also among his possessions were a set of brass knuckles and a glass jar that allegedly contained marijuana.
Peeping Tom flushed out
Duwayne Chance was charged on Mon., Sept. 10, with unlawful surveillance, burglary and criminal trespassing, after photographing women in a Flatiron District bakery’s bathroom multiple times.
Chance, 43, started his pervy peeping in July, according to court documents, when he allegedly peeked over a bathroom stall in The City Bakery, at 3 W. 18th St., and snapped cell-phone photos of a woman as she was pulling down her pants and underwear. He was also caught sneaking out of the same bathroom on Sept. 4 by the bakery’s custodian, which led to Chance’s arrest.
Chance has 20 prior arrests, according to the New York Post, and is also facing a grand larceny charge dating from last October, when he allegedly stole a woman’s wallet while she was in a restaurant bathroom.
Purse pickers
John Bailey, 35, was nabbed by police after lifting an unsuspecting Louisiana tourist’s wallet in a swanky Meatpacking District nightclub on Thurs., Sept. 6.
Around 3 a.m., a bartender at Tenjune, at Little W. 12th St., saw Bailey digging through the woman’s purse and then trying to get away with the wallet. The employee tipped off a bouncer, who stopped the thief and handed him over to police.
Annmarie Kerr, 36, was busted on Tues., Sept. 4, after snatching a wallet and iPhone from another woman’s purse at a West Village bar.
Kerr snuck out of Off the Wagon, on MacDougal St., with the stolen goods after concealing them in her own purse. But she was caught later that night after the victim reported the larceny and police canvassed the area.
Needling mugger
A 16-year-old boy was arrested for robbery on Mon., Sept. 10, after using a needle to threaten a man in a West Village pizza shop.
The teen, whose name was not released, allegedly accosted the victim, 30, around 4 a.m. in Karavas Pizza, at 72 Christopher St., and said he would stab him in the neck if he didn’t cough up a MetroCard and $20, police said. The perp was arrested at the scene after officers nearby heard the commotion and responded.
Up in smoke
Police arrested Michael Sewa, 18, for showing a fake driver’s license after being caught smoking pot near Washington Square Park on Sun., Sept. 8.
Sewa was spotted walking down Minetta Lane with a lit joint in his hand at around 3 a.m., and when officers approached, he tried to flee on foot, according to the report. He was caught after leading them on a brief chase — and when asked for I.D. offered a forged Pennsylvania license.
— Sam Spokony
