A twisted robbery spree, termed as “bizarre” by the Commanding Officer of the 112th precinct, has come to an end. And the man who last week threatened three cab drivers with a hypodermic syringe he claimed was filled with his own HIV/Aids tainted blood, is this week behind bars.
Captain Thomas Conforti said that the development of the frenzied crime pattern drove the decision to transfer resources to the case, even diverting personnel from the precincts ongoing burglary spike investigation.
“It’s insane that people should be targeted with this type of threat,” Conforti said. “We realized very quickly that with the way it [the pattern] was developing there was great need t have him caught fast.”
And so a detailed analysis of every applicable feature of the pattern, especially video surveillance footage, led investigators to determine the general direction the suspect was taking when fleeing from his crime scene.
Conforti says the department used all Intel to zero in on an approximate location, as well as employing many other measures to be ready for the next strike, including decoy officers posing as cab drivers.
When a call came in that two officers had seen someone fitting the description issued by the NYPD in the vicinity of Yellowstone Boulevard and 62nd Avenue it was less than a two to three minute delay before they arrived on the scene.
Chanlan Aulov, a 31-year-old Forest Hills resident and a former cab driver was arrested and charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
The rampage started on Friday May 3, a little before 10 p.m. when Aulov jumped into a cab near 108th Street and, according to the criminal complaint, he told the driver he wanted to go to Manhattan and thereafter demanded money and said he had a gun.
The driver refused to comply even after Aulov told him he’d stick him with the tainted needle and that’s when he [Aulov] just left.
He hit another cabbie less than an hour after, implementing the same threat but this time he got $100 before the driver jumped out of his car.
Saturday marked the last strike when he got into a cab and held a needle to the drivers head. The victim gave him $45 and soon after, police descended upon his location and made the arrest.
“It’s a great sense of relief to have this person off the street,” Conforti said. “His arrest record includes at least six serious priors including one for assaulting a person with a hammer.
Aulov was held in lieu of bail set at $50,000 and is set to appear in court on May 23rd.
By Patricia Adams
