Chelsea murder
Police questioned two persons of interest this week but had made no arrests in the murder of John Laubach, 57, who was found by a friend Friday night March 2 in the victim’s fourth-floor bedroom at 212 W. 22 St. with his hands and feet bound, and gagged with tape. On Sunday, police issued a photo of a man who tried to use the victim’s bank card to withdraw money from a Chase bank A.T.M. nearby on Seventh Ave.
Laubach, described as a gentle person frequently seen with his white cockatoo, Bolo, perched on his shoulder, was known to bring young men to his apartment.
There was no evidence of forced entry and no visible signs of trauma, but the apartment was ransacked, according to reports. The Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of death was pending the results of toxicology tests, which could take a week or more. Laubach, who moved to the building at 22nd St. and Seventh Ave. after having sold his Fifth Ave. apartment in 2010, was active in the Church of the Ascension, on Fifth Ave. at W. 10th St. He was a regular customer at Cafe Champignon at the corner of Seventh Ave. at W. 22nd St., and often sat on the bench outside the cafe with his cockatoo.
After his body was found, the bird was taken by New York Animal Care & Control.
Shoplifters
A man walked into the Porsche Design store at 465 West Broadway between Prince and W. Houston Sts. around 6 p.m. Sat., Feb. 25, grabbed a leather jacket valued at $1,100 and fled, police said.
A shoplifter snagged a leather jacket valued at $1,800, around 5 p.m. Sat., Feb. 18, from the Ralph Lauren boutique at 381 West Broadway.
A thief stole three handbags with a total value of $2,685 from Barney’s New York at 116 Wooster St. around 4:30 p.m. Fri., Feb. 24.
A shopper at the Physique 57 shop at 161 Sixth Ave. at Spring St. discovered her bag had been stolen around 9:30 a.m. Sat., March 3.
Boy grabs phone
Police arrested a 14-year-old boy and charged him with grabbing a cell phone from a woman on Wooster and Spring Sts. around 7:30 p.m. Thurs., March 1.
Underpants stash
Police arrested Tyrel Henderson, 22, around 1 a.m. Feb. 26 as he was walking out of Karavas Pizza, 108 Seventh Ave. South. Police said the suspect dropped a bag of cocaine in the place as he was leaving. Police found five other bags of cocaine in the patrol car in which Henderson was taken to the precinct. Twenty-three bags of marijuana were discovered in his underwear while he was at the police station. Charged with possession of controlled substances and resisting arrest, he was released on $5,000 bail on Mon., Feb. 27.
When he was 18, Henderson was charged with drug possession on two occasions in the Sixth Precinct. He sued the city for illegal search and seizure in 2009 and received a $2,500 settlement from the city in December 2010 and a $650 settlement in October 2011.
Bag theft arrests
Police arrested two women and a man around 4:40 a.m. Mon., March 5, outside of Le Souk, 510 LaGuardia Place, after the management alerted police about the theft of a patron’s bag.
Xairalexan Carlo, 23, Malory Andrea Salazar Cortez, 22, and their male accomplice, Emilio Roman, 23, were charged with larceny. The victim’s bag was recovered, police said.
Precinct damage
Ruben Rivera, 41, was arrested on Waverly Place between MacDougal St. and Sixth Ave. around 10:10 p.m. Tues., Feb. 28, for possession of marijuana. He was also charged with criminal mischief after he kicked and smashed a glass door in the Sixth Precinct’s W. 10th St. police stationhouse.
Restaurant action
Employees of Bobo, 181 W. 10th St. at Seventh Ave. South, discovered two teenagers hiding inside the place at 1 p.m. Sat., March 3, and called police, who charged Tyrek Kemper, 18, and a 14-year-old accomplice, charged as a juvenile, with burglary.
Jose Fernandez, 27, was charged with assault for punching a woman at 7:30 p.m. Fri., March 2, in front of the Taco Bell at 18 W. 14th St. Police said the punch was the result of an argument about whether or not to eat at the restaurant.
Village bank robber
Police are looking for an armed bank robber who held up two Village bank branches. He walked into the Citibank branch at 555 LaGuardia Place at 10:42 a.m. Tues., Feb. 14, flashed a black handgun at a teller and threatened to shoot a customer unless she gave him money. The teller handed over $9,000, which the robber tucked into a bag and fled.
The same suspect is believed to have held up a teller at gunpoint in the HSBC branch at 769 Broadway at E. Ninth St. on Jan. 26 and stolen an undetermined sum of cash.
Gone from Green Room
A woman visiting from Fresno, California, left her bag at her table at the Green Room, a club at 281 Spring St., around 2 a.m. Thurs., March 1, while she used the bathroom. She returned to find the bag, with $700 in cash, credit cards and her iPhone, had been stolen.
Fake credit card
Police arrested Tremayne Tenn, 17, at 3:25 p.m. Thurs., March 1, and charged him with trying to use a fraudulent credit card to pay for purchases at the Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Company boutique at 456 West Broadway.
Something fishy
Police arrested Paul Persichetti, 38, on Christopher St. near Seventh Ave. South around 8:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 9, after a patron of the nearby Kettle of Fish followed him when he left with a woman’s handbag. Police said the suspect has many prior larceny arrests.
Bogus bills and stun gum
Police arrested Ailah Murphy, 32, at Carmine and Varick Sts. around 1:25 a.m. Fri., Feb. 10, and charged him with weapon possession after they found a stun gun, a small bag of marijuana and $800 in counterfeit U.S. currency in his possession. Police referred the case to the Secret Service for prosecution for possession of counterfeit money.
Albert Amateau
