Carrying a big stick
Teddy Roosevelt always said that one should speak softly and carry a big stick — but one man was arrested in the West Village last week after following only the second half of that famous mantra.
Chauncey Wallace, 40, was apprehended near the corner of Christopher St. and Seventh Ave. South around 2 a.m. on Sun., Jan. 13, after officers saw him yelling and waving a large wooden stick in a “threatening manner” toward numerous pedestrians, police said. It was unclear exactly why he was doing that, but Wallace was apparently causing a great deal of “fear and alarm,” according to the police report.
He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
Punches panhandler
Police arrested a man who allegedly punched a panhandler in Union Square around midday on Thurs., Jan. 10.
The victim, a 43-year-old woman, told cops that she’d just received some change from a passerby when the man — later identified as Robert Burton, 33 — suddenly became angry and started cursing at her, calling her a “rich bitch.” The panhandler also told the officers that Burton then spit on her and socked her in the face before walking away. Burton was apprehended shortly afterward by nearby officers, and was charged with assault.
Ralph Lauren inside job
An employee of a classy clothing outlet was booked for stealing more than $2,300 in cash from the store, police said.
A manager at the Ralph Lauren shop at 390 Bleecker St. told police, in a Jan. 4 report, that Ahmad McClain, 26, had taken the money on two separate occasions by concealing it and walking out, rather than depositing it in the store’s safe. Officers arrived to pick up McClain on Jan. 8, and although they haven’t yet recovered the cash, they charged him with grand larceny.
Not too old to tussle
Police arrested a 54-year-old man early on Jan. 10 after he allegedly smacked an older man over the head with a blackjack.
Ernest Scinto and the victim, 61, were in the middle of a heated argument at the corner of Thompson and Bleecker Sts. around 2:30 a.m., when officers on patrol said they saw Scinto whip out his weapon and attack. The other man suffered a cut to his face, but didn’t need to be hospitalized, police said, and Scinto was charged with assault.
A very low ‘Standard’
A night of heavy drinking at a swanky rooftop bar led a young woman to choose the worst possible sparring partner — an officer of the law.
Ji Won Kim, 22, was utterly intoxicated around 1 a.m. on Fri., Jan. 11, after spending several hours at Le Bain, which sits atop the Standard Hotel at Washington and W. 13th Sts., according to security guards who spoke with police. The guards eventually had to flag down a couple of officers who’d been on D.W.I. patrol, after Kim reportedly tried stealing a bottle of liquor and then refused to leave the premises.
But when cops tried to get her out of the bar, Kim proceeded to hit one of the officers in the chest, according to the report. She then continued to act belligerently by flailing her arms as the officers handcuffed her, and on top of that, she kicked out one of the police cruiser’s back windows after being placed inside the vehicle.
Kim was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
High on the highway
Some people will tell you not to “Bogart” that joint — but the N.Y.P.D. thinks you’d better hold onto it if they catch you, rather than getting hit with another felony charge for tampering with evidence. Or at least that’s what Miguel Marte, 22, learned early on Fri., Jan. 11, after cops busted him for puffing on some pot while driving down West St.
After making a routine traffic stop around 4 a.m. at the corner of Morton and West Sts., officers said they smelled a strong odor of marijuana emanating from Marte’s Volvo, and noticed that his eyes were pretty bloodshot as well. Before long, he admitted to driving under the influence, and subsequently fessed up to tossing his joint out the window in order to stop the officers from finding it.
After that second admission, cops tacked the charge of tampering with physical evidence onto Marte’s D.U.I.
Sam Spokony
