Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale presenting Officer Ludeman with a Cop of the Month award at the precinct council meeting.
Keen observation by two police officers from the 106 precinct has finally resulted in a break in the wave of rim thefts that has been plaguing the Howard Beach/Lindenwood area for many months.
On Saturday March 30 at around 4:30 a.m. Police Officers Elizabeth Leudesdorff and Michael Ludeman were on patrol when they spotted three males stealing the rims off a late model Infinity in Ozone Park. The officers then engaged in a foot chase through the streets and several backyards until they finally brought all three suspects under control and arrested them.
The three males arrested range in age with one 17-year-old, one 20-year-old and one 46-year-old. According to Deputy Inspector Thomas Pascale who presented Officer Ludeman with a Cop of the Month award at the precinct council meeting last week, “the 17-year-old has gotten off to a real bad start with prior arrests for both burglary and robbery.” The Inspector also made those in attendance aware that rim thefts have become a top priority in the precinct and that many of the precinct resources have been dedicated to bringing the situation under control.
The Inspector made clear that his focus on the rim thefts in Howard Beach was further motivated by the fact that he felt very strongly that people should not be further victimized after having lost so much in the storm. “People in these communities started putting their lives back together and getting new cars to replace those they lost, in addition to everything else they suffered through. This precinct was intent on helping them in whatever way we could.”
Police are presently investigation the possibility of tying these thieves to other thefts of a similar nature.
By Patricia Adams
