Community Council President Frank Dardani, 106 cop of the month Officers Yuseff Hamm, Raiman Dasilva and Jacinta Femenias, with Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale. Forum Newsgroup photo by Ryan Lavis.
A foot chase through several backyards, a physical altercation and an organized search from police ultimately led to the arrest of two men for an attempted burglary in Wakefield – it also earned the three officers involved with the bust the 106th Precinct’s Cop of the Month award.
The attempted burglary took place on 152nd Avenue on Friday, September 28th around 1:20 p.m., police said. 152nd Avenue is a somewhat isolated block that rests near the Nassau Expressway.
Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale of the 106 Precinct described the scheme, which he said was a common tactic for burglaries. One man acted as the lookout while another rang the doorbell to see if anyone was home. Pascale said that in these types of burglaries, if someone answers the door then the perpetrator will usually pretend to have the wrong house and move on to another home.
In this instance, an elderly woman lived in the house. Pascale said she didn’t get to the door quickly enough though, which led the man to believe he was in the clear. He tried to pry open the thick bars on the woman’s windows, but a neighbor driving pass the home spotted the man.
When the neighbor noticed this stranger trying to break into the home, he immediately called 911.
The arresting officers taking in one of the suspects accused of the burglary.Forum Newsgroup photo by Robert Stridiron.
“This really plays into how important getting help from the community is in making these burglary arrests,” Pascale said, who has noted the difficulties of making a burglary arrest unless police catch the criminals in the act.
Pascale said the two men were communicating via cell phone, which would eventually aide police in making the arrest.
“These guys were professionals,” Pascale said. “They’re part of an organized crew that we keep track of.”
Officers Yuseff Hamm and Raiman Dasilva responded to the call, and engaged the man acting as the lookout in a foot chase through several neighboring backyards. The officers eventually caught up with the man, but he refused to give in without a fight as he and the officers began to scuffle.
“This was a very dangerous situation for our officers,” Pascale said, noting the man’s status as a parolee. “This guy was fighting for his life because he knew that he would go straight back to jail.”
While the fight broke Officer Hamm’s nameplate and left his uniform covered in dirt, he and Dasilva eventually arrested the man. But the other perpetrator who rang the doorbell was still on the loose.
The arresting officers taking in the other suspect accused of the burglary. Forum Newsgroup photo by Robert Stridiron.
That’s where Officer Jacinta Femenias stepped in, who along with Hamm and Dasilva earned September’s Cop of the Month award. Femenias interviewed civilian witnesses in the neighborhood after the attempted burglary. She also used the home’s surveillance system to help identify the man.
The perp was eventually caught when he walked through one of the command posts that had been set up in the neighborhood.
“This case was built on good civilian witnesses and the hard work of these officers,” Pascale said.
Femenias worked with the District Attorney’s office to look into the suspect’s cell phone records, which proved that the two men were in contact with one another during the time of the incident. This piece of information helped to land the parolee back in jail. The other man has been released, according to Pascale.
“She was the brains of the operation because we didn’t have a lot to go on,” Pascale said.
But Pascale said that burglaries are still a constant problem in the 106th Precinct.
During the Precinct’s last compstat, burglaries in the 106 were up 32 percent during the last 28-day period – 37 this year compared to 28 last year. For the year to date, burglaries are up 9.7 percent, with 247 occurring last year and 271 this year.
“Burglary is a constant struggle for us,” Pascale said.
By Ryan Lavis
