Rapist got in by fire escape
Police are hunting for a man who allegedly raped a woman on Mulberry St. in her Little Italy home early on Mon., Nov. 11, as the woman’s 7-year-old daughter was sleeping alongside her.
The woman, 42, told cops that the unknown man entered through the fire escape window of her Mulberry St. apartment around 3:30 a.m., threatened her with a knife and told her to be silent, then raped her in her bed. The child, who was beside her the whole time, was not injured, police said.
The alleged rapist then reportedly left through the woman’s front door and fled before police arrived on the scene.
The woman was taken to an undisclosed local hospital following the attack.
Police released a sketch of the suspect, above.
Shot dead in Smith Houses
An unknown gunman shot and killed a man early on Nov. 10 at Smith Houses on the Lower East Side.
George Taliferro, 30, a Smith Houses resident, was found by authorities around 4:15 a.m. on the ground outside 15 St. James Place, unconscious and with three bullet wounds in his torso. Police had responded to the scene moments after the gunshots were fired and a witness called 911. Taliferro was taken to New York Downtown Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival, police said.
There have been no arrests made yet, and the investigation is still ongoing, police said.
Gunman gets 22 years
A man convicted of shooting and wounding three people on the Lower East Side in 2010 has been sentenced to 22 years in prison, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced on Nov. 7.
Mario Rodriguez, 25, was found guilty of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment in May.
Around 8:45 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2010, Rodriguez was arguing with another man in front of 195 Stanton St. when Rodriguez pulled out a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol and began firing at him, according to court documents. The man was shot in the torso, and two bystanders — a man, 44, and a woman, 52 — were also struck by Rodriguez’s bullets, the D.A. said.
After the attack Rodriguez fled to Jersey City, but he was later arrested there by members of the New York Police Department’s Seventh Precinct Detective Squad.
In addition to the prison sentence, Rodriguez will face five years of post-release supervision, the D.A. said.
Jane clerk pistol-whipped
On Sat., Nov. 9, at about 4:40 a.m., four suspects entered the Jane Hotel, at 113 Jane St., wearing hooded clothing, when one of them brandished a firearm and demanded money from the desk clerk. Another employee was struck in the head with a firearm by the man with the gun while the other three suspects grabbed him and demanded that he get them money from the back office. The suspects fled the location without any money. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the N.Y.P.D.’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. All calls are confidential.
Glass smasher, cop basher
Police arrested Daniel Engler, 22, on the night of Fri., Nov. 8, after he allegedly smashed a Meatpacking District bar’s glass door and then attacked officers as they apprehended him.
An employee of The Chester, at 18 Ninth Ave., told cops that Engler walked in around 10:30 p.m., ordered numerous drinks and then sat down with a group of unidentified people near the back of the establishment. Minutes later, Engler reportedly got up, drunkenly walked to the glass front door and shattered it with a punch.
The employee tried to stop him and quickly flagged down a police car, but Engler continued to fight once the officers approached, hitting one of them hard enough to send him to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Once he was subdued, Engler was charged with assaulting a police officer, criminal mischief and resisting arrest.
Surprise attack
Police arrested John Brickman, Jr., 23, early on Nov. 5 after he allegedly punched an officer in the face.
A Sixth Precinct source said that Brickman, Jr. was a car passenger who suffered very minor injuries in a three-vehicle accident on Fifth Ave., between 13th and 14th Sts., around 1:30 a.m.
Brickman, Jr. was reportedly loaded into an ambulance at the scene, but when a police officer opened the emergency vehicle’s back door to check on him, Brickman, Jr. allegedly socked the cop right in the nose. As officers tried to handcuff him, Brickman, Jr. continued to resist until he was eventually subdued, police said.
It was unclear why Brickman, Jr. chose to attack the cop. He was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.
Jewelry-store jobs
Police are seeking up to four individuals in a robbery pattern consisting of seven robberies of jewelry stores in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn, always striking in the afternoon or early evenings. According to police, one suspect enters the location armed with a handgun and two to three additional suspects jump over the counter and remove jewelry. No injuries have been reported. On Sept. 10, at 4:15 p.m., the robbers struck at 169 Canal St. They hit 66 East Broadway on successive days, first on Oct. 17 at 6:35 p.m., then on Oct. 18 at 4:30 p.m. The suspects are described as male Hispanics.
Conniving co-worker
Police arrested Rebecca Pierre-Louis, 18, a week after she allegedly racked up nearly $400 in unauthorized purchases on a co-worker’s debit card.
Pierre-Louis’s co-worker at the C.V.S. at 360 Washington Place told police that he gave her the card on the afternoon of Nov. 2 so she could buy him lunch during her shift break. Two days later, the man realized that his card had also been used to buy a MetroCard and various items at Bloomingdales and other fashion stores.
The angry co-worker reported the alleged crime immediately after recognizing the bogus charges, and police tracked Pierre-Louis down and apprehended her on Nov. 8. She was charged with grand larceny.
Hit owner with skateboard
Police say that on Fri., Nov. 8, at about 5:35 p.m., four suspects entered Eastern Supermarket, at 335 Grand St., removed merchandise and attempted to exit without paying. The storeowner, 50, approached the group and was struck in the face with a skateboard. Police said he was injured, and was treated New York Downtown Hospital, and subsequently released. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the N.Y.P.D.’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. All calls are confidential.
— Sam Spokony and Lincoln Anderson
