Rapist gets 11 years
A man convicted of raping a 33-year-old woman inside her Greenwich Village apartment building three years ago has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced on Jan. 7.
Last March, a State Supreme Court jury found Garis Ortega, 33, guilty of both first-degree and third-degree rape, as well as first-degree sexual abuse.
On the early morning of Nov. 5, 2010, Ortega approached the woman as she was walking back to her Thompson St. home, began speaking with her and then walked with her to the building, according to court records.
Once they reached the building, Ortega followed her into the vestibule and forcibly raped her, the D.A. said.
After the attack, the woman fled into the street and ran until she found someone to call 911. Ortega was later caught after investigators recovered his DNA from the victim’s rape kit, the D.A. said.
In addition to the prison term, Ortega was sentenced to 10 years of post-release supervision.
Subway slammer
Police arrested Hakeem Lockett, 36, on Jan. 1 after he allegedly attacked a woman on a subway train.
The woman, 35, told cops she got on a northbound F train at W. Fourth St. around 5:15 a.m., alongside Lockett, who entered the same car. The two individuals reportedly got into an argument as the train began to move again. Their dispute continued even after she walked forward to the train’s front car as Lockett followed her there, police said.
After the train stopped at 14th St., Lockett reportedly exited alongside the woman, and then grabbed her by the collar and threw her against a wall, causing her to hit her head and suffer minor pains. Police said she later refused medical treatment. The alleged aggressor was apprehended by cops moments later inside the station.
Once officers hauled him upstairs, Lockett also reportedly kicked out the window of a police cruiser. Based on that and his other actions leading up to his arrest, he was later taken to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, police said.
Lockett was charged with attempted assault, attempted criminal mischief, harassment, disorderly conduct and obstructing government administration.
The next day, while in police custody, Lockett was also charged with attempted assault for an incident in Queens that took place in January 2012, according to court records.
Missing coat, busted door
Ivan Osoianu, 25, was arrested on Jan. 1 for allegedly breaking the door of a West Village nightclub after trying to retrieve his lost coat and being denied entry.
Employees for Le Poisson Rouge, at 158 Bleecker St., told cops that Osoianu showed up outside the venue around 7:30 a.m. and claimed that he’d left the coat inside, presumably at New Year’s Eve festivities. But there were two problems — he didn’t have a coat-check ticket to prove it, and the club was closed at that time anyway.
Osoianu was told to come back another time. Instead, he became enraged and kicked the glass front door repeatedly until it cracked, police said. He was charged with criminal mischief.
Purse snatcher
Police arrested Norman Gillard, 57, on Jan. 1 after he allegedly snatched a woman’s purse while she was chowing down in a West Village pizza joint.
The woman, 20, told officers she was having a slice in Perry’s Pizza, at 190 Bleecker St., around 7:45 p.m. when she realized that her bag, which she had hung off the back of her chair, was gone.
But another customer spotted Gillard swipe the purse, and, after informing the woman, quickly dashed outside to confront the thief, according to police. Realizing he was caught, Gillard reportedly admitted to the crime and revealed the stolen bag, after which the heroic bystander held him at the scene until cops arrived.
Gillard was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Historic tagger takedown
Alexander Raspa, 30, was arrested Jan. 3 after he allegedly sprayed graffiti on a landmarked residential building on Horatio St.
The super at 2 Horatio St., which first opened in 1931, reported the situation to police, who then caught Raspa in the act around 1:30 a.m. as he was tagging “RAWSPA” on the building’s service entrance, according to the police report. Once he was cornered, the vandal reportedly admitted to officers that he’d been making the graffiti.
Raspa was charged with criminal mischief.
Spicey stolen goods
Police arrested Jamal Lynch, 28, on Jan. 3 when he was spotted with allegedly stolen goods after trespassing in a Meatpacking District restaurant.
Employees for Spice Market, at 403 W. 13th St., called the cops after they caught Lynch wandering around the restaurant around 2:30 a.m. When officers arrived and searched him, they found that Lynch was carrying two cell phones that apparently didn’t belong to him, as well as a credit card that had been reported stolen on Dec. 11.
Lynch was charged with criminal possession of stolen property and criminal trespassing.
Bouncer busted
A bouncer for a Village nightclub was arrested on Jan. 5 after police found that he was carrying brass knuckles.
Hubert Merchant, 36, was working security for Pink Elephant, at 40 W. Eighth St., around 1:15 a.m. when police showed up to do an inspection. After checking his ID and discovering that Merchant had an open warrant, officers apprehended him and quickly found the metal hidden in his jacket’s inside pocket.
Merchant was charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
— Sam Spokony
