Vicious Village assault
A Jersey City man was hospitalized on the early morning of Sun., Aug. 19, after three men stabbed him in the West Village for no apparent reason.
The victim, 48, who is black, had just gotten out of a taxi on Seventh Ave. South, between Charles and W. 10th Sts., at around 2 a.m. when he was attacked by Adriano Smajlaj, 19, Arjan Smajlaj, 33, and Nikolin Bequi, 30, who are all white.
After stopping him by pointing a gun at his face, the three assailants began punching and kicking their victim. When he tried to get away they took out knives, slashed him in the face, and then stabbed him a total of three times in the leg and stomach.
Police arrived on the scene too late to stop the vicious assault, but they successfully canvassed the area after paramedics rushed the victim away for medical treatment. All three thugs were arrested for assault at around 6:30 a.m.
Chabbott may ‘foot’ bill
A First Precinct police officer is reportedly planning to sue Julien Chabbott — the boyfriend of reality TV star Stephanie Pratt — for $10 million, after he ran over the officer’s foot on Aug. 4 while attempting to evade a parking ticket.
Officer Felix Recio, 34, has hired a lawyer and will claim that Chabbott, 28, was trying to hit him after arguing the ticket, jumping into his Ferrari and attempting to drive away, according to the New York Post. The altercation occurred outside the Mercer Hotel, at 147 Mercer St.
Recio told the Post that he has not been able to work since the incident occurred, and that, even though he was left with only a swollen and bruised foot, he believes Chabbott intended to hurt him much more seriously.
But Chabbott’s lawyer responded by saying that he would be shocked if a $10 million suit is filed, because he believes Recio was not even injured by the moving vehicle.
Pot dealer busted
Police arrested Andre Kapoyour, 17, after he sold a bag of marijuana to an undercover officer in the West Village on Tues., Aug. 21.
The illegal sale, which happened at around 6:30 p.m. on the corner of Christopher and West Sts., marked the first such arrest for Kapoyour, a resident of the Flatiron District.
Parking scam
Charles Scott, 48, was arrested for selling parking spaces on a street in the Meatpacking District on Wed., Aug. 15.
Shortly after midnight, police observed Scott attempting to charge drivers who had parked their cars along Ninth Ave. between W. 13th and 14th Sts. in the teeming nightlife district. He was arrested for fraudulent accosting.
Stumbling, fumbling thief
A woman, 40, was walking past the corner of Grand and Wooster Sts. around 3 p.m. on Thurs., Aug. 16, when a man snuck up behind her and grabbed the wallet sticking out of her open handbag. When the thief took off running, it looked as if he would make an easy getaway, but he tripped and fell to the pavement, dropping the wallet behind him. Not wanting to chance being caught, he fled empty-handed, allowing the woman to recover her property.
She described the wallet snatcher to police as black, about age 20, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, and 130 pounds, with a blotchy complexion.
Greenhouse haul
A visitor from North Carolina recently received a rude welcome to New York City, losing more than $5,000 worth of possessions after her pricey purse was stolen at a Varick St. nightclub.
The woman, 30, was enjoying a night out at Greenhouse, at 150 Varick St., on Tues., Aug. 14, when, at around 2:30 a.m., she left her bag unattended for a few minutes. When she returned to her table, the swank satchel — a $1,000 Louis Vuitton — was gone, along with its contents, including a Michael Kors wallet with her credit and debit card, an iPhone 4S, Ray-Ban sunglasses, a MAC makeup kit, her birth certificate and $700 cash.
When the woman cancelled her stolen cards, she learned unauthorized purchases had already been made — $76 on the debit card, and $2,000 on the credit card.
Burberry shoplifter
An employee at the Burberry outlet at 131 Spring St. told police that on Wed., Aug. 15, a man strolled out of the store without paying for clothes worth more than $1,600.
The thief — whom the worker described only as a black male — walked in at around 5:30 p.m. and snuck out shortly after with two polo shirts, valued at $450, and four button-down shirts, valued at $1,180. Police said they’ll look at video from the store’s security cameras to try to identify the suspect.
FedEx filcher
Jonathan Vergara, 26, eluded police for nearly two weeks after stealing packaged computers from a West Village FedEx location, but he was arrested for grand larceny on Thurs., Aug. 16.
On Aug. 3, a FedEx employee made a report at the Sixth Precinct about the July 24 theft, in which Vergara walked out with two Apple MacBooks, with a total value of about $5,000. Using video footage, police tracked Vergara and eventually caught him in the West Village.
Umbrella whacking
Police arrested Bogdan Chender, 22, for assault on the morning of Sun., Aug. 19, after he hit a man in the face with an umbrella outside the Hotel Gansevoort.
The unsuspecting victim, 26, walked out of the hotel, at 18 Ninth Ave., at around 4:30 a.m. when Chender approached and whacked him with the umbrella. The man was left with a cut on his head and a black eye, and was taken to Beth Israel hospital by ambulance after police in the area heard the commotion and responded.
It was unclear why Chender had attacked the man. As for his weapon, the forecast had called for rain.
Polished shoplifters
Six days after they stole nearly $4,000 worth of nail polish from a Gramercy Duane Reade, Edward Williams, 22, and Joey Graham, 21, were arrested on Thurs., Aug. 16, the Post reported.
Security cameras caught Williams and Graham — who is a woman — in the act of snatching up 480 nail polish bottles from the drugstore on Park Ave. South at E. 20th St. on Aug. 10. Police used the recordings to identify the shoplifters and eventually track them down.
Both were charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
— Sam Spokony
