Ice-cold hack attack
Police arrested cab driver Driss Quorra, 49, on Feb. 19 after he allegedly attacked one of his passengers during a payment dispute.
The alleged victim, 43, told cops he was riding in Quorra’s taxi with his young daughter — taking her to the Little Red School House, on Sixth Ave. at Bleecker St. — around 7:45 a.m. When they reached the destination, the man said he opened the back door as he was in the middle of swiping his credit card to pay, after which the cabbie, assuming the worst, reportedly turned around and told him, “You better f—— pay me.”
Following that outburst, the fare apparently chose to get his daughter away from the situation before completing the transaction, and walked her into school before returning to the cab, according to his statements to police. At that point, Quorra and the man began arguing over the payment. When the passenger turned away moments later, Quorra reportedly picked up a block of ice and used it to bash him on the back of the head. When the man then turned back to face him, Quorra reportedly whacked him in the face with another ice chunk.
After officers arrived shortly afterward, the passenger was taken to Beth Israel Hospital and treated for a cut to the bridge of his nose and swelling around his left eye, police said. Quorra was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon — the ice chunks.
Subway sleeper theft
Calvin Brown, 22, was arrested Feb. 22 after he reportedly swiped a cell phone from a sleeping straphanger.
A plainclothes officer, according to his report, was riding a northbound E train through Soho, around 2:40 a.m., when he saw Brown sneak up next to the sleeping man, 29, and snatch his Samsung Galaxy phone out of his pocket. The officer apprehended the perpetrator moments later when the train stopped at the W. Fourth St. station, and quickly recovered the phone from Brownʼs jacket pocket, police said.
Brown was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. He also has a history of theft charges, and last May pleaded guilty to petty larceny after a different incident in Manhattan, according to court records.
Botched burglary
Police arrested Bradly Huff, 21, on Feb. 20 for trying to break into a van in the South Village.
According to police, the driver of the van, belonging to Brooklyn-based Tri-Star Plumbing and Heating, told officers he had parked it on Bleecker St. between Wooster St. and LaGuardia Place, and was walking back to it around 4 p.m. He then reportedly spotted Huff, holding a screwdriver, standing next to the van’s rear door beside an unidentified associate.
The door’s lock was busted open, and a witness later told cops he had seen Huff break it, and then try to enter the van moments before the driver returned. Although the alleged accomplice fled, avoiding rest, Huff was charged with criminal mischief and auto stripping.
Meat-cleaving district
James Baker, 52, was arrested Feb. 22 because police said he was carrying a meat cleaver on a Meatpacking District sidewalk.
Officers said they spotted Baker at the corner of Hudson and W. 13th Sts. around 3 a.m., holding an open container of alcohol, and subsequently stopped and searched him. They reportedly found the cleaver stashed in Baker’s jacket pocket and a glass pipe with alleged crack cocaine residue in another pocket.
Baker was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Busy bank robber
Police are seeking help in locating a suspect in two attempted bank robberies and a completed robbery in the First, Sixth and 19th Precincts.
On Sat., Jan. 25, around 11 a.m., the suspect entered a Chase bank at 101 Barclay St., passed a note to a teller and demanded cash before fleeing with about $6,000.
Tues., Feb. 18, about 11:10 a.m., the suspect entered a Bank of America at 1107 Third Ave., at E. 63rd St., passed a teller a note and demanded cash before fleeing without any property.
Later that day, around 3:50 p.m., the suspect entered a Chase bank at 204 W. Fourth St., at Sheridan Square, passed a teller a note and demanded cash before again fleeing without anything.
The robber is described as a 35-to-45-year-old black male, 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a thin build, wearing a black knit hat and black trench coat.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted by logging onto WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting to 274637(CRIMES), then entering TIP577.
— Sam Spokony
