Truck-crash murder charge
The man arrested Feb. 12 for stealing a delivery truck and killing a city bus driver in a drunken crash at W. 14th St. and Seventh Ave. has been indicted for murder and aggravated vehicular homicide, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced on March 12.
Events leading up to the tragic incident began on Feb. 11, when Domonic Whilby, 23, of Georgia, spent the night drinking heavily at various parties that continued into the next morning, according to the indictment. Around 5:30 a.m. Feb. 12, while still intoxicated, he reportedly broke into a commercial truck parked at the loading dock of the Dream Hotel, at W. 16th St. and Ninth Ave., started the engine and then drove away after first careening into the loading dock wall, a taxi and another truck, the D.A. said.
After several minutes of a speeding joyride around corners and through a red light, Whilby was driving south along Seventh Ave. where he ran another red light at W. 14th St. and smashed violently into an M.T.A. crosstown bus passing through the busy intersection, the indictment said. As the bus plowed into nearby scaffolding, its driver, William Pena, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene. Four other people were injured in the crash.
Whilby was arrested at the scene moments after the carnage occurred. At the time of the crash, his blood-alcohol level was at least .18 percent, the D.A. said — more than twice the legal limit.
In addition to murder and vehicular homicide, Whilby was also charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter, first-degree burglary, first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and grand larceny.
He’s a real jerk-off
Police arrested Ivan Garcon, 28, on March 11 after he allegedly exposed himself and masturbated in front of a 17-year-old girl onboard a PATH train.
The victim told cops that she was riding the downtown train around 4:40 p.m. when Garcon approached her, pulled out his penis and began pleasuring himself. The girl said she tried walking to the next train car, but Garcon reportedly followed her and continued his gross display.
The alleged perv was arrested inside the Ninth St. PATH station at Sixth Ave., where he had exited to continue following the girl after she stepped off and reported the incident, police said. Garcon was charged with public lewdness and harassment.
Domestic danger
A 14-year-old girl was arrested on March 11 after she allegedly attacked her older brother and threatened him with a knife inside their South Village home.
The boy, 17, told police that his sister was verbally abusing him throughout the day in the Thompson St. apartment, and then began to hit and scratch him on both arms. He further claimed that she then picked up the knife and menacingly approached, causing him to fear for his life, according to the police report.
The girl was apprehended inside their home shortly after her brother called police. She was charged with assault, but was placed in the custody of a guardian and will face the charge in Family Court, police said.
Craigslist con job
Police are searching for a shifty man who allegedly conned 10 women out of nearly $22,000 by posting fake East Village apartment rentals on Craigslist.
The suspect — a photo of whom, below, was released by cops — claimed to be a rental agent while posting the false listings for 321 E. Sixth St. and 434 E. Ninth St., police said. During that time, he reportedly used the aliases David Horowitz and Michael Bryant, although his true identity is still unknown.
Between Jan. 16 and Feb. 1, nine women paid the suspect cash deposits of $2,200 as down payment on the bogus E. Sixth St. rental, and the other woman paid a $2,100 cash deposit for the E. Ninth St. listing on Jan. 30, police said.
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to call the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Web site at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and entering TIP577.
Ride-’n’-spray
Police arrested a teenage boy early on March 15 after he allegedly stole a Citi Bike and then drew graffiti on a W. Fourth St. apartment building.
An officer said he spotted the boy, 15 — who lives just blocks away on LaGuardia Place — outside 132 W. Fourth St. around 3:50 a.m., using a paint bottle with a brush attachment to tag his nickname, “Skeez,” on a glass encasement on the building’s front.
Once the cop approached and questioned him, both about the graffiti and the Citi Bike lying beside him, the alleged vandal admitted to taking the bike from a nearby dock without paying for it, according to the police report. The bike hadn’t been pushed all the way into its slot, the boy reportedly told the officer, so he took it. “I was going to ride it and put it back,” he said, according to the report.
The boy was charged with making graffiti, possession of graffiti instruments and criminal possession of stolen property.
— Sam Spokony
