Wald Houses homicide
A 22-year-old man was fatally shot in the Lillian Wald Houses on Fri., June 3, shortly before 2 a.m.
Police responded to a 911 call of a man shot in the public-housing complex’s courtyard area at 890 E. Sixth St. Upon arrival, officers found the victim with gunshot wounds to the torso.
E.M.S. medics also responded and transported the victim to the Beth Israel Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
As of this Wednesday, there were no arrests and the investigation was ongoing.
Police are not releasing the deceased’s name until his family members have been properly notified.
Lieutenant Thomas Antonetti, a spokesperson with the Police Department’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, shed some light on the case.
“Could be narcotics related,” he told The Villager. “He has a narcotics past. It looks like he’s a marijuana player.”
Antonetti said the victim has two previous pot arrests and also a number of sealed arrests. He could not immediately say if the arrests had occurred in or around the Wald Houses.
The lieutenant said police are looking at surveillance video and questioning eyewitnesses and “earwitnesses” in an effort to find the killer or killers.
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 the Crime Stoppers Web site, www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting them to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.
‘Soho Wild Man’ sentenced
Richard Pearson a.k.a. “The Soho Wild Man” a couple years ago was terrorizing neighborhood residents, who kept warning police he would definitely eventually kill someone.
On June 23, 2014, he almost did, stabbing a sidewalk cell phone-case vendor on Broadway south of Houston with a pair of scissors, nearly hitting him in the heart.
The wounded vendor chased Pearson into the Broadway-Lafayette subway station, where the mentally disturbed street dweller was arrested by police.
According to the criminal complaint, Pearson stated during a police interrogation at the Fifth Precinct stationhouse, “I was defending myself.”
Apparently responding to a detective’s question, Pearson answered, “How many times did I stab him?… We were talking about evolution. I stabbed him to protect myself.”
Pearson recently pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the second degree in that case.
On Thurs., June 2, he was sentenced to 14 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Other people’s property
A 38-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a woman after he caught her stealing his property early Friday morning at Off the Wagon bar, at 108 Macdougal St., police said.
On June 3 at 3 a.m., according to a report, a woman attempted to remove the victim’s property. The report didn’t state exactly what it was the woman was allegedly trying to take.
The man attempted to retain the property and the woman struck him multiple times causing lacerations to his shoulder, neck and face, police said.
All of the property was recovered at the crime scene.
Stephanie Kenyon, 28, was arrested for felony robbery.
Out-of-tune tag team
Karaoke Boho bar, at 186 W. Fourth St., was the scene of an alleged altercation Thursday night. A doorman there told police that around midnight on June 2, while he was working at the bar, two women entered the place and became argumentative over the bar’s ID policy.
One of the women struck the employee in the head with a Corona beer bottle, causing lacerations, swelling and bruising. Meanwhile, the other woman punched him, causing bruising and swelling to his head.
The two women, Shanika Walker, 21, and Jelissa Walker, 25, were arrested for felony assault.
Up & Down and out
An employee of Up & Down nightclub, at 244 W. 14th St., called police last Wed., June 1, when he witnessed a burglary, police said.
Cops responding around 5:45 a.m. saw the man matching the description attempting to leave the location, and said they saw damage from the burglary. With the assistance of other officers, they caught the suspect before he could flee into a nearby subway station.
Police were shown surveillance video of the suspect trying to break the club’s door and enter the premises.
Police arrested Andre S. Zhulidau, 38, for felony burglary.
Un-Souk-cessful swiper
Multiple women had their iPhones stolen at Le Souk nightclub, at 510 LaGuardia Place, on Tues., May 31, police said.
On that night at 1:15 a.m., one of the victims stated she was dancing and felt a man pushing up against her side where her purse was. Shortly afterward, she discovered that her cell phone was removed from her purse.
The second victim also stated that she discovered that her phone was removed from her purse.
The third victim, who is a club employee, told cops she placed her cell phone under her workstation and later noticed that it was removed.
However, Le Souk’s security staff recovered all three cell phones from a man at the club. Upon arrest, it was discovered that the man had one active warrant.
Samba Tague, 31, was charged with felony grand larceny.
Emily Siegel
and Lincoln Anderson
