Boutique bandits
Police are now linking a crook to seven robberies of Downtown-area boutiques and shops since January. In at least some of them, the suspect has been accompanied by an accomplice.
In the first robbery, on Wed., Jan. 21, at 5:30 p.m., the two suspects entered Goldwater Boutique, at 84 E. Seventh St., in the East Village. One of them, brandishing a knife, approached an employee and demanded money. The employee complied, and handed him $240. The robbers fled and the victim was unharmed.
Police have linked the following cases to the above incident. However, in these robberies, there was only one suspect. In each incident, he displayed a knife and demanded currency.
On Fri., Jan. 23, around 4:45 p.m., the suspect again hit the East Village, entering Bond Street Chocolate, at 63 E. Fourth St., stealing $250 and fleeing.
The robber’s next three targets were in Nolita. On Tues., Jan. 27, at around 8 p.m., the suspect entered an art gallery at 262 Mott St., grabbed $55 and fled.
On Fri., Jan. 30, at about 7:40 p.m., he entered a clothing boutique at 251 Elizabeth St., but fled without any cash.
On Sat., Feb. 21, at 1:50 p.m., the man entered a clothing store at 260 Mott St., took $275 and fled.
On Mon., Feb. 23, at roughly 7:15 p.m., the suspect struck in Soho, where he entered the Molton Brown bath-and-body shop at 128 Spring St., stole $400 in cash and fled.
Police have added one more robbery to the pattern, though, this once again included two suspects. The second suspect always acts as a lookout, standing outside the location, according to police.
On Fri., Feb. 27, at 9:43 p.m., the pair of perps targeted Wine Therapy, at 171 Elizabeth St., in Little Italy. One of them displayed a knife, they stole $1,000 and fled.
The suspect in a sketch released by police is described as 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall and in his 30s. The other man is described as in his late 20s, about 5-feet-8 and 180 pounds; previous police reports have said both men fit this latter description. In addition to the sketch, police have released videos and photos of the suspects, who both wore hoodies during the robberies.
Police ask anyone with information regarding this incident to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). 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 strictly confidential.
Ave. D ‘shooter’ nabbed
On Thurs., Feb. 26, the Daily News reported that the man suspected of fatally shooting an aspiring East Village rapper outside his home in the Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D on Mon., Feb. 23, was arrested in New Jersey and was being questioned at the East Village’s Ninth Precinct.
Shaquille Fuller, 21, a resident of 60 Avenue D, also in the Wald Houses, was taken into custody in Irvington, N.J., early last Thursday, the News reported.
However, as of press time this week, no charges had been filed against Fuller, police said.
“He is in police custody and charges in New York are pending,” a police spokesperson told The Villager on Tues., March 3.
Another department spokesperson pointed out that, contrary to the News’s report, Fuller has not technically been arrested — and that he cannot be arrested until he is charged by the New York Police Department.
Contrary to the News’s report, the spokespersons said it’s possible that Fuller is still in New Jersey, in which case extradition hearings would be needed to bring him back to the city. It was not immediately clear, as of press time, if Fuller was still being held in New Jersey or had been extradited to New York.
According to police, Fuller shot Isaac, 33, three times in the chest outside 20 Avenue D, at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 23. The two reportedly had been overheard arguing before the shooting.
Isaac, who rapped as Sham Da God, was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where he died.
Fuller fled into the Wald Houses on F.D.R. Drive, then eluded police for several days. He was ID’d by surveillance video from near the shooting.
Isaac’s career as a rapper was reportedly set to “blow up” as he was poised to sign a contract with a major producer.
East River body
Police reported that a body was recovered from the East River at E. 36th St. and the F.D.R. Drive on Fri., Feb. 27, at 12:59 p.m. More information was not available by press time.
Cab clash
Two taxi passengers, one male and the other female, got into a scuffle with a 30-year-old man after he asked them to leave the vehicle at about 1:30 a.m. on Thurs., Feb. 26. The male rider responded to the request by unleashing a punch and soon he and the other man continued the fight on the ground, resulting in some scraped knees for the victim, police say.
A witness at the scene, in front of 388 Sixth Ave., tried to break it up but could not keep the woman from striking the victim as well. Responding police found a gravity knife in her possession upon arrest, according to a police report.
John Moroney, 26, was charged with misdemeanor assault. Laura Lombardi, 25, was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a weapon.
Things got pretty hairy
Police said that, at about 3 a.m. on Sun., March 1, they observed one woman walk over to another in front of 5 Ninth Ave. in the Meatpacking District’s Gansevoort Square, then grab the other woman’s hair and pull her down into a planter. The attacker then allegedly kicked the victim, age 26, in the ribs.
Multiple officers were necessary to dislodge the perpetrator’s grasp on the victim’s hair, according to police. The attack’s motive remains unclear. Sophia Tolbert, 23, was charged with misdemeanor assault.
O.K….so don’t go
A 23-year-old man apparently didn’t take kindly to being asked to scram from the Sixth Precinct, at 233 W. 10th St.
Police said the man punched a male officer, 25, in front of the Greenwich Village precinct around 3 a.m. on Sat., Feb. 28, after being ordered to leave the premises.
The perpetrator then twisted his body in order to resist arrest, police said. Gordon Akhtob was charged with felony assault. A police report did not state why Akhtob came to the precinct in the first place.
Red Lion robbers
A pair of sticky-fingered thieves were caught with a bunch of patrons’ filched phones and wallets at the Red Lion at 158 Bleecker St. on Sun., March 1, around 1 a.m.
Police said a man and woman worked as a pair in targeting six twenty-somethings at the place’s bar. A vigilant manager observed one of the thieves rifling through one victim’s bag.
Police found four iPhones, bank cards, credits cards and two expensive wallets in the female perpetrator’s handbag, according to a police report, which listed the loot as having a total value of $1,350. Clafdya Lahens, 25, and Jean Pierre, 33, were both charged with felony grand larceny.
‘What did I do?’
The driver of a 1997 Nissan Altima ran a stop sign on the morning of Wed., Feb. 25, and police soon realized just how bad a driver they had caught. After stopping the vehicle at about 9:45 a.m., they found the driver had 19 license suspensions under two reported addresses.
“What did I do?” the man reportedly asked police after being pulled over.
Police charged Mario Jones, 58, with driving without a license and the traffic violation. He was also charged with a misdemeanor and felony for operating a vehicle without a license.
Drummed out of subway
A performer attracted the attention of cops on Wed., Feb. 25, for beating drums in the subway station at W. 14th St. and Eighth Ave. Police said he was impeding the flow of pedestrian traffic near a stairway and was a public nuisance.
It turned out the percussionist had an open warrant for an unspecified crime, according to a police report. After arresting Gary Bryan, 59, police reportedly found an altered MetroCard in his inner jacket pocket. Bending the card along the magnetic strip is one way to swipe through subway turnstiles without proper payment, a Sixth Precinct officer noted.
Bryan was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, a felony.
PATH station swingers
Four teenagers were swinging around on handrails and poles inside the Christopher St. PATH station on Fri., Feb. 27, and their antics were endangering fellow passengers, police said.
Angel Maldonado, 18, and Rayquan Wilson, 19, were charged with misdemeanor unlawful assembly, along with two 16-year-old males whose names were withheld due to their age.
— Zach Williams and Lincoln Anderson
