Stuy man’s body found
On Wed., Feb. 11, officers responded to a 911 call of an individual floating face-up in the East River near 4 South St. by the F.D.R. Drive and Broad St. Upon arrival, they discovered a 25-year-old male unconscious and unresponsive in the water.
The Police Department’s Harbor Unit responded and removed the individual from the water to Pier 16 where EMS medics pronounced him DOA. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
The man was subsequently identified as Andreas Robbins, 25, of 521 E. 14th St. in Stuyvesant Town. He had been reported missing on Mon., Dec. 1.
In a Dec. 8 article, the New York Post reported that Robbins had been suffering from depression and had left a suicide note in his Stuy Town bedroom saying he was going to jump off the George Washington Bridge. He had left his home without his cell phone or bank card.
His father, Bruce Robbins, a Columbia University literature professor, was quoted back then as saying a detective had told him police were too busy dealing with the Eric Garner protests and their impacts on traffic to search for his missing son. But police subsequently said they had indeed been diligently canvassing the area and searching with helicopters for Andreas.
The father told the Post that his son’s note said he wanted his savings to be given to an organization that fights depression and suicide and that he wanted his ashes strewn in the Mediterranean, which is where his mother, who is Greek, is from.
End of the line
Around 10:30 p.m. on Mon., Feb. 9, an M.T.A. worker, 52, was found shot once in the chest inside an employee locker room at the subway station at Seventh Ave. and W. 14th St. He was taken to the Lenox Hill HealthPlex, at W. 12th St. and Seventh Ave., where at 11:47 p.m. he was declared dead on arrival. Police initially called in heavily armed Emergency Service Unit cops, but soon determined that the victim had shot himself.
6th Ave. CVS robbery
Police are seeking the public’s help in tracking down a man wanted in connection with an armed robbery at the CVS drug store, at 360 Sixth Ave., on Mon., Feb. 9, around 3:15 a.m.
At that date and time, an unknown man entered the store, on Sixth Ave. near Washington Place, and forced the manager into the back office. The suspect, at gunpoint, then forced the manager to open the safe, then tossed the manager to the side. He then removed more than $9,000 from the safe and fled the store.
The robber is described as slim and wearing a black three-quarter-length jacket with a fur-fringed snorkel hood that hid his face, gray pants and brown boots. He was also carrying a black messenger bag.
Police have released a video of the robbery.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). People can also submit tips by logging onto www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting them to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.
Subway slasher arrest
Police announced the arrest of a suspect last Thurs, Feb. 5, who they said was responsible for a face-slashing spree that had ended in Union Square earlier the previous day.
Police arrested Derrick McLeod, 24, in an East Harlem public-housing development, and reportedly recovered a box cutter during the arrest.
A Brooklyn resident, McLeod was charged with five counts of assault along with criminal possession of a weapon.
According to William Aubry, the Manhattan chief of detectives, McLeod has been treated for “emotional issues” and has been arrested 30 times as an adult.
“He’s a violent and troubled individual,” the chief said.
The attacks occurred over a period of 20 minutes following McLeod’s boarding an F train at 12:30 a.m. at the Jay St./Metrotech station, police said. During that time McLeod allegedly punched a woman who had been riding on the F with him as it pulled into the Broadway/Lafayette station. After transferring to the 6 train, he then slashed a man for looking at him, police said. He later punched a woman in the face as he was exiting the subway at Union Square, then, once aboveground, slashed two men in succession who refused his requests to give him money.
Saw…said something
Two alert women saw a man trying to steal from straphangers’ bags while they were waiting for a northbound train at Eighth Ave. and W. 14th St. on Tues., Feb. 3, police said. The sneaky thief would mosey up to passengers using crowd congestion as cover, the witnesses told police.
Police took a look at the contents of the perpetrator’s bag after they responded to the scene at about 8:55 p.m. They reportedly found an iPad, as well as a credit card and checkbook not belonging to him. The man, Roland Thomas, 19, confessed to taking the computer tablet from BaoHaus, a Taiwanese restaurant at 238 E. 14th St., according to a police report.
Roland was charged with criminal possession of stolen property, a felony.
Tobacco King’s fall
Police once again raided the Tobacco King at 200 W. 14th St. for selling untaxed cigarettes, but this time they brought a court-sanctioned closure order, as well, on Wed., Feb. 4. Two employees of the place were arrested for possession of untaxed cigarettes.
For Oadi Alsaede, 22, it was not the first time he was charged with a misdemeanor tax-law violation. Ali Alqatbi, 43, got the same charge.
‘Cypher’ 0, Cops 1
Tagging a U.S. Postal Service mailbox with “Cypher League” led to a misdemeanor charge for one man on Feb. 4. Police said they caught Devaughn Holliday, 20, with graffiti instruments just before midnight at the northwest corner of Thompson and Bleecker Sts. As cops busted him, Holliday allegedly refused to put his hands behind his back and flailed them a bit before being handcuffed, police said. He was charged with making graffiti.
Berserk burger burglar
A man busted the front door and damaged a window as he made his way into the closed Bill’s Bar and Burger at 22 Ninth Ave. early last Tues., Feb. 3. But he wasn’t looking for cash, drinks or even burgers, according to police.
Henry Gianguzi, 40, reportedly went for the beer taps, which he wanted to wreck, police said. Two witnesses tipped off police, who arrived just after 4:30 a.m. and arrested Gianguzi for felony burglary. The venue suffered more than $250 in damages.
— Lincoln Anderson and Zach Williams
