Chelsea/Village robber
Police are looking for a suspect who held up four victims at knifepoint in the past four weeks. On Sat., March 17, the suspect robbed a man, 36, on the downtown platform of the F train station at Sixth Ave. and 23rd St. at 2:50 a.m. On Tues., March 13, he struck twice, once targeting a victim in the subway station at Seventh Ave. at W. 12th St. around 1:30 a.m., and later robbing another victim at First Ave. and E. 14th St. The attacks started on Feb. 26 when the robber held up a man, 38, at 12:15 a.m. on W. 26th St. and Broadway.
Grieving leap
A man got dressed for his wife’s funeral and jumped to his death from his 12th-floor apartment in Masaryk Towers on the Lower East Side on Fri., March 23, police said.
Miguel Melendez, 78, was pronounced dead at 9:25 a.m. in the rear lawn area of 77 Columbia St., police said. His wife, Dominga, 76, had died Mon., March 19, after a long illness and her funeral was scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday, according to reports. The couple’s son, Michael, was sobbing at the scene a short time later, according to reports. The couple’s daughter died several years ago, the New York Post reported.
10th St. robbery
Police are seeking public assistance in identifying two suspects in the Mon., March 20, robbery of a victim across the street from the Sixth Precinct police stationhouse.
The suspects attacked the victim, 30, in front of 222 W. 10th St., punched him in the face and fled with his cell phone and wallet.
Both suspects were described as black men between 25 and 35 years old. One was described as between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 9 inches tall, clean-shaven and last wearing a black jacket, red shirt and dark pants. The other was between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet 2 inches tall, with a beard and last wearing a white jacket, dark pants, a black-and-red baseball cap and carrying a shoulder bag.
An hour later, suspects of the same description punched and kicked a man, 26, in front of Penn Station on Eighth Ave. and made off with his cell phone.
Information may be phoned to Crime Stoppers, 800-577-TIPS (8477), or reported online at www.NYPDCrimestoppers.com or by texting 274637 (CRIMES and entering TIP577). All tips are confidential.
Girl abused
Police charged Kerry Abrams, 54, with fondling a girl, 11, inside a Dunkin’ Donuts shop on First Ave. at E. 21st St. around 11:30 a.m. March 7. He was arrested Thurs., March 22, after a Crime Stoppers tip. At his arraignment, his lawyer said Abrams has been living in a group home for mentally retarded residents for 30 years and had no prior arrests. The suspect told the girl her hair was pretty and then reached down her blouse, fondled her breast and fled, according to a Daily News report.
Bus kills pedestrian
A pedestrian was killed on E. 23rd St. while crossing from the north to the south side of the street midblock between Broadway and Madison Ave. when an eastbound city bus struck him around 11:44 p.m. Tues., March 22, police said.
An Emergency Medical Service team pronounced the victim, Amos Veloz, 21, of 86 Ft. Washington Ave. dead on arrival. The bus driver remained at the scene and no criminality was suspected.
Christopher St. mugging
A man, 34, told police at the Sixth Precinct that he was walking to the subway at Seventh Ave. at Christopher St. around 1:40 a.m. Sat., March 24, when someone punched him in the face and tried to grab his neck chain but fled without it. Police canvassed the area and arrested Tiashawn Ambrose, 28, and charged him with attempted robbery.
Co-op urine drop
A resident of a fourth-floor Seward Park Co-op apartment is suing the co-op and a 12th-floor resident, charging the upstairs neighbor had been tossing urine from his window. Gary Strum, the fourth-floor resident at 212 East Broadway, filed the action in State Supreme Court, saying he endured the periodic stench for years without realizing where it came from. But in October 2009 he removed a window air conditioner and realized what was up.
Strum used surveillance equipment to record that the urine was from a window eight floors above his, according to a New York Post item. He surmised that Raymond Spielberg, the elderly 12th-floor resident, tossed the urine when his health aide was not in attendance. Spielberg told the Post that he didn’t know anything about it.
Strum is asking for $250,000 from Spielberg, the co-op and the management company, Charles Greenthal.
Watched card, lost wallet
A woman visiting from Kentucky was watching a three-card Monte game on Canal St. between Mercer and Greene Sts. around 12:25 p.m. Sat., March 24, when a bystander dipped into her shoulder bag. She protested but the thief said, “Go ahead, call the law,” and fled east on Canal St. with her wallet.
Garage wrecker
Police arrested Ichiro Yamamoto, 45, for damaging the gate at the entrance to the Hillary Gardens Garage, at 741 Broadway between Waverly Place and E. Eighth St. The suspect was charged with criminal mischief and resisting arrest when he struggled against being handcuffed.
Blind-date theft
A woman, 50, told police that a man with whom she had a blind date at Lucky Jack’s, 129 Orchard St., on March 9 stole her wallet and iPhone. The victim said they had been e-mailing each other on the Web site Plenty of Fish before they met at the Lower East Side bar. She didn’t discover the missing wallet and phone until after she had driven her date, whom she knew only as Hayden, to the Second Ave. subway station on East Houston St. and dropped him off. He was described as being between 25 and 30 years old, 6 feet 1 inch tall, with a thin build.
Gaslight pickings
A patron of Gaslight lounge, at 400 W. 14th St., told police that he saw a woman picking the pocket of another male patron around 2 a.m. Sat., March 24. Police arrested Jennifer Vasquez, 30, jand charged her with lifting $717 from the victim’s pocket.
Albert Amateau
