Harassment: Jump starter stopped short
At least one of those A’s stood for “abusive.” A woman told police that she was standing on the 400 block of W. 17th St. in the early evening of Fri., Aug. 1 — waiting for an overdue Triple A (aka, “AAA”) driver to jump start her disabled car battery. When help arrived, she approached the vehicle and asked why it had taken him so long. The customer service immediately turned surly, with the driver hurling an F-bomb in her direction, and then departing in a huff (almost sideswiping the victim).
Elsewhere, at around 3:45 p.m. on Wed., July 30, an incident of verbal abuse did escalate to bodily injury — when the driver of a white Suburban started yelling at bicyclist who was waiting to turn onto a bike lane (on Eighth Ave., at W. 21st St.). The driver made a sharp turn, hitting the bike as well as her left knee. The quick-thinking victim was able to provide police with the license plate number.
Criminal Possession: Crack pipe trilogy
Three people were arrested on Wed., July 30, in separate incidents during which they were caught with crack pipes. At 3:35 p.m., a 43-year-old man was observed in Chelsea Park (303 Ninth Ave., btw 27th & 28th Sts.), outstretched on a bench and preventing others from using it. That violation is what aroused the curiosity of officers, who found the defendant to be in possession of one glass pipe containing crack cocaine residue. At 9 p.m., on the W. 400 block of 38th St., a 46-year-old female was taken into custody after she was seen “on a public street in plain view” with a crack pipe. At 11:10 p.m., also on the sidewalk (this time, the W. 400 block of 40th St.), a 48-year-old man was seen smoking a crack pipe.
Grand Larceny: Local bike’s East Village adventure
Failure to do what the color said was his first mistake. Police arrested a 37-year-old man, after they observed him zipping through a red light at E. Fourth St. & Ave. D, at around 3:40 a.m. on Wed., July 2. The matter was later referred to Chelsea’s own 10th Precinct, since the pedaling perp had no proof of purchase for his CitiBike, which was stolen from its docking station at 11th Ave. & W. 20th St. The man was charged with Grand Larceny (each CitiBike is valued at $1,200).
Another man with sticky fingers and an affinity for blue bikes was arrested at 9:30 a.m. on Sat., July 26, when he was caught red-handed — stealing a CitiBike from its docking station at W. 40th St. & 12th Ave.
—Scott Stiffler
