Noho home invasion
Police are searching for two men who they believe robbed another man at gunpoint inside his Noho home on Jan. 25.
The alleged thugs, pictured above, were both packing firearms when they broke into the apartment at 645 Broadway around midnight, according to cops. They then forced the startled resident, 29, to hand over an undetermined amount of cash, an iPad and a laptop, after which they fled the scene. There were no injuries reported, police said.
Anti-gay attack
Police are also still searching for three men who allegedly attacked another man on a sidewalk outside Stuyvesant Town on Jan. 1, in what is being investigated as an anti-gay hate crime.
The victim, 27, was walking along First Ave. with a male friend, 34, around 3 a.m. when the three men, pictured below, left, reportedly started a dispute with him near the corner of E. 15th St. by making homophobic slurs. Moments later, the allegedly bigoted attackers punched the victim in the head multiple times, leaving him with bruises, police said. That case is being investigated by the Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force, according to authorities.
The great chase
An alleged robber had the tables turned on him on Feb. 9, when his victim pursued him in a wildly dangerous underground chase that ended in his arrest.
It all started around 7:30 a.m., near the corner of W. Fourth St. and Sixth Ave., when Jeff Hamm, 54, snatched $94 in cash and a cigarette lighter out of the hand of the 52-year-old man, police said. The victim immediately tried to grab back his possessions, but Hamm backed him off with a fighting stance, and then turned and fled on foot.
The other man chased him all the way to W. Houston and Varick Sts., where Hamm reportedly ran down into the No. 1 train subway entrance. The victim kept pursuing him.
Hamm then decided to jump down onto the northbound train tracks and run into the subway tunnel, according to the police report. The other man did the same, chasing Hamm through the dark tunnel, all the way up to the Christopher St. station, where the alleged robber jumped up onto the platform and headed back up to street level.
The epic chase continued aboveground, as the victim followed Hamm on a twisting path that led them to Grove and Bleecker Sts., where the perpetrator tried to hop into a cab and get away.
But a nearby police officer spotted the commotion as the victim struggled with Hamm and screamed, “That guy robbed me!” The officer was able to yank Hamm out of the taxi and arrest him. Hamm was charged with robbery.
Stolen-card stash
Police arrested Akiirah Allen, 20, on Feb. 6 after she was stopped and searched due to suspicious behavior and found to be carrying four stolen credit cards.
Officers said they spotted Allen around 2:30 a.m. as she walked along Grove St. while attempting to open the front doors of several residential buildings. She eventually got into the lobby at 35 Grove St., near Bleecker St., after which she was immediately questioned by cops.
After running a check on her name, it was discovered that Allen had several open warrants, including one for multiple counts of assault, as well as harassment and menacing, stemming from a Brooklyn incident last June. Police searched Allen and found the four allegedly stolen credit cards in her wallet, none of which were in her name.
For the Feb. 6 incident, Allen was charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Rough way to get kicks
Plenty of revelers flock to the Jane Hotel for the lively atmosphere of its bar. But on Fri., Feb. 7, one unfortunate man found that, sometimes, the real action takes place in the bathroom.
The man, 37, was doing his business in a stall at the 113 Jane St. hot spot around 10:45 p.m. when Michael Klein, 39, inexplicably walked into the restroom and kicked the stall door, bashing it open and hitting the man in the head, according to police. Klein then reportedly counted to three before kicking in the door once more, again slamming the stall’s occupant in the head.
After security discovered the situation, police were called to the scene and Klein was arrested shortly afterward. He was charged with assault and harassment. The victim refused medical attention, police said.
Thief caught at Catch
Police arrested Marius Paduraru, 24, on Feb. 2 after he allegedly snatched a woman’s cell phone at a Meatpacking District bar.
The victim, 22, said she momentarily placed her phone on the hostess’s table after entering Catch, at 21 Ninth Ave., around 2 a.m. Witnesses claimed Paduraru immediately picked it up and tried to stroll out of the bar, but he was stopped by a security guard who had realized something was afoot.
The bouncer reportedly found the stolen phone stashed inside Paduraru’s pant leg, and police said they arrived on the scene shortly afterward to apprehend him. Paduraru was charged with petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
— Sam Spokony
