Drug deal gone bad A reported violent home invasion on Avenue B at E. 13th St. Sunday was actually a drug deal gone wrong, according to police. The New York Post initially reported that a 31-year-old woman told police she heard a knock on her door around 8:30 p.m. Sun., June 25. After she opened the door slightly, she told cops, the man forced his way in and stabbed her multiple times, before taking $500 and fleeing. The woman was reportedly found by a friend around 11 p.m. and transported to Bellevue Hospital in serious but stable condition. However, according to police, “there was more to the story,” and the investigation determined that the victim’s report was not accurate. Police said the woman, Cassidy Helmken, of 207 Avenue B, Apartment 2R, had made an arrangement for a drug deal — she was apparently buying — but it turned violent. “It was a drug transaction that went bad,” Captain Vincent Greany, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, told The Villager. A search warrant subsequently turned up a quantity of alleged cocaine and drug paraphernalia at her apartment. According to police, it was not a home invasion: Helmken apparently willingly opened the door for the suspect. She was charged with seven counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia. The investigation is ongoing. Police did not provide details about the suspect. Helmken has three prior arrests, including for criminal sale of a controlled substance. Bust subway suspect On Fri., June 23, police reported the arrest of a suspect in a pair of recent muggings at the Spring St. C/E subway station. Kevin Williams, 34, of E. 125th St., was charged with two counts of first-degree robbery. According to the Daily News, Williams’s mother spotted him in a surveillance video released by police. She told a friend, who reportedly went to the cops. Williams lives in a homeless shelter, which the Daily News reported is in Harlem. But a First Precinct police officer told The Villager it’s actually on the Bowery. Police say Williams robbed two middle-aged women at knifepoint in the late-morning hours on the Uptown side of the C/E subway station at Spring St. and Sixth Ave. Each time, he grabbed the victim from behind and put a white cloth over the woman’s nose and mouth, while brandishing a blade. The first robbery occurred Tues., June 13, at 10:53 a.m., when the stranger grabbed a 50-year-old woman using the above M.O. and removed $70 from her before fleeing southbound toward Sixth Ave. Then, on Sat., June 17, at 10 a.m., the suspect accosted a 49-year-old woman from behind as she was ascending the stairway to exit the station. He again covered her nose and mouth with a cloth and held a knife, causing her to drop her purse to the ground. The attacker swiped $75 cash from it and fled, reportedly through the underpass to the station’s Downtown side. There were no reported injuries in either incident. The Daily News said there was no harmful substance on the cloth either time. Following the attacks, police — including undercovers — were posted inside and outside the station.
Delancey attack Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying a suspect in connection with an assault in the Delancey St. subway station on Sun., June 18, around 4:50 p.m. At that date and time, police said, the individual punched a 65-year-old man in the face on the Queens-bound J platform at the station. When the victim fell to the ground, the suspect punched and kicked him about his body, rendering him unconscious. E.M.S. medics responded and transported the victim to an area hospital in stable condition. The suspect is described as Hispanic, around age 20, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, with long hair. Anyone with information is asked to call the Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline, at 800-577-TIPS, or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Tips can also be submitted by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Web site, www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting them to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577. All tips are confidential. Not a ‘shoe-in’ A man stole some merchandise from DSW shoe store, at 40 E. 14th St., on Thurs., June 22, at 3:45 p.m., according to police. He didn’t get far, though, and was stopped right in front of the place. Patrick Rapcavage, 31, was arrested for misdemeanor petit larceny. Teen mugger A 16-year-old was robbed and cut in front of 237 Thompson St. on Sat., June 24, at 5:32 p.m., police said. The suspect brandished a box cutter and forcibly removed the victim’s backpack, while taunting him, “Yo, run your s—.” During the robbery, the suspect cut the teen’s right hand. Police caught the suspect, and during a strip search, reportedly found 25 grams of pot on him. Shawndale Wood, 18, was arrested for felony robbery. Fake gun, real charge A robber wouldn’t take no for an answer in front of 425 West St., near W. 11th St., on Wed., June 21, at 4:20 p.m., police said. The suspect asked a man, 54, for money. When he refused to give him any, the suspect opened the door of the victim’s car, removed items from inside it and walked off. When the victim confronted the suspect, the latter put his hands in his pocket, simulated a gun and pointed it toward the victim. Christopher Spence, 54, was busted for felony robbery. ‘Conditional’ case A man broke in through the main entrance of an apartment at 70 Carmine St. and filched property on Wed., June 14, at 7 p.m., police said. The suspect took shampoo, conditioner, a shirt and pants from inside shipping boxes found behind the door, then fled east on Carmine St. But he apparently didn’t have time to shower and dress up with the ill-gotten goods. Youssef Taher, 18, was subsequently arrested for felony burglary. Tabia Robinson and Lincoln Anderson
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