Category Archives: Crime
Police are combating a spike of at least nine burglaries in April within a few blocks of each other in Maspeth. The burst of crimes happened in the area of Maspeth surrounded by the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, Long Island Expressway and Queens Boulevard. Eight of the nine were concentrated between 51st and 47th avenues and between 61st and 66th streets. Police say a suspect or group of suspects who knows the area is burgling houses, mostly in the afternoon. Officers … Continue reading
Firefighters discovered the badly burned body of a man when they responded to a brush fire in Forest Park early on Saturday morning. Police are now investigating the death and an autopsy is being performed to determine how the man died and why the body was involved in the grisly incident. Minutes before 6 a.m., police and fire officials responded to the small area of brush that was aflame a few dozen feet into the park near the corner … Continue reading
Police will continue investigating a shooting in a South Ozone Park hotel on May 10 that the District Attorney is calling a murder suicide. At 12:30 p.m., 47-year-old Gary Zalevsky shot 31-year-old Brian Weiss before turning the gun on himself, police said. The victim and shooter were eating with four other men in the cafeteria of the Hilton Garden Inn at 148-30 134th St. not far from John F. Kennedy International Airport. Police sources said they have video of the … Continue reading
There’s been a “dramatic” spike in drunken driving arrests recently across Middle Village, Maspeth, Ridgewood and Glendale, police from the 104th Precinct reported this week. Precinct commanders say it’s due to proactively pulling drivers over. So far this year, officers in the precinct have arrested 78 motorists for driving under the influence, said Capt. John Travaglia, executive officer of the 104th, who focuses heavily on traffic in the area. Just during the last 28-day period of crime statistics, officers made … Continue reading
A Brooklyn man was arraigned last week in relation to a rash of manhole cover thefts that occurred across the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Andrew Modica was arrested in Bensonhurst and was arraigned on four charges, including reckless endangerment, criminal impersonation, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. According to police, Modica stole several Con Edison manhole covers while pretending to be an employee of that electric company. Police said that he stole a car and … Continue reading
A man in Ridgewood faces four charges, including first-degree auto stripping, for allegedly running a motorcycle chop shop in the basement of his home. Philip Dietrich, 43, who lives at 60-91 Putnam Ave. in Ridgewood, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday, May 9. He was charged with first-degree auto stripping, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, illegal possession of a vehicle identification number and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was held on $1,000 bail and … Continue reading
A livery cab driver who led a Panamanian family of four on a terrifying ride after picking them up at JFK International Airport has been sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation. Bhupinder Singh, 38, of 1708 Himrod Street in Ridgewood pleaded guilty to first-degree unlawful imprisonment. Singh’s trouble started on February 21, when he illegally offered arriving passengers at JFK Airport’s International Terminal his services as ground transportation for hire. Port Authority Police Officer Dante Castro-Recio … Continue reading
Siblings of George Gibbons read tearful statements in court Monday, asking that the man who killed their brother remain in jail as long as possible. Peter Rodriguez, a 37-year-old Brooklyn man, had admitted to driving the car that killed George in a wrong-way collision in Maspeth. On May 7, he was sentenced to three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a crime. George’s five siblings poured out their emotions for the record … Continue reading
Police are asking for help identifying one suspect and finding another wanted for impersonating a police officer and robbing a man at knifepoint in Jackson Heights, part of the nearby 115th Precinct. On Friday, March 9, at 4:50 p.m. two suspects armed with switchblade knives forcibly entered an apartment and identified themselves as police officers. The men demanded money from a 36-year-old Hispanic man in the apartment and then fled. Police are looking for one of the suspects named Julian … Continue reading
A 28-year-old man from Massachusetts pleaded guilty to second-degree assault as a hate crime after he made degrading remarks to two gay men in Jackson Heights, and then stabbed one of them in the arm. The Queens District Attorney’s office identified the man as Cristian Flores, 28, who lives in Boston, Mass. According to the District Attorney’s office, Carlos Aleman, 34, was walking with his boyfriend around 4:10 a.m. on Roosevelt Avenue between 80th and 81st streets in Jackson Heights … Continue reading
An unlicensed Queens contractor has been charged with bilking five Queens homeowners out of more than $9,000 paid to him for heating repairs and other work to their residences. The contractor allegedly demanded down payments, then failed to do the work. He allegedly misrepresented himself as being licensed although he is not licensed. According to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown ,“The victims in this case, it is alleged, hired the defendant and paid him substantial amounts of money for work … Continue reading
A Bronx health aide was convicted on May 1 of stealing nearly $800,000 from the 86-year-old disabled patient she was taking care of in Queens. Jackie A Pokuwaah, 53, convinced the victim to sign hundreds of checks made payable to her. Some of the checks noted that they were meant to be used for groceries or laundry. After a weeklong jury trial, Pokuwaah now faces up to 15 years in prison on the conviction of five counts of second-degree grand … Continue reading
Police are searching for a woman that stole $50,000 worth of diamonds from a Forest Hills jewelry seller, according to published reports. On April 27, the NYPD released surveillance pictures of Erika Cooper, leaving the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Manhattan and asked the public for help locating her. Police said that Cooper—also known as Bianca Williams—stole property from her victim just after midnight while he was asleep in his room at the Cosmopolitan, 95 West Broadway. Police also noted that they … Continue reading
The NYPD is asking for help finding a man wanted for a stabbing near the border of Glendale and Ridgewood on Tuesday, April 19. Police say the man stabbed a woman multiple times in the torso, arms, neck and face during a dispute at 12:30 p.m. inside a building at 80-19 59th Street. The suspect then fled the scene in an unknown direction. The victim, a 51-year-old Hispanic woman, was transported to a local hospital where she is listed in … Continue reading
Investigators may have cracked a cold-case stabbing from 1995. A Queens County grand jury has charged a 37-year-old Flushing man with second-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of a man he knew. The victim, Jason Kollmann, was stabbed several times about the neck and upper body, and then pushed off the roof of defendant Andrew Caballero’s apartment building. According to the investigation, Kollmann, a 21-year-old resident of East Flushing, was with the defendant on the roof of Caballero’s Kissena Boulevard … Continue reading