NY Post: NYPD Blotter
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
Manhattan A 31-year-old man plunged to his death from a Union Square building yesterday, police sources said. The man, whose name was withheld, apparently jumped from a 10th-floor terrace at 850 Broadway, near East 13th Street, at around 11:30 a.m. Staten Island A suspect in a Park Hill shooting didn't go quietly when police tried to arrest him. Investigators on Tuesday tracked down William Sanders, 22, shortly after 7 p.m. outside the Stapleton Houses on Warren Street near Gordon Street. Sanders is a suspect in an April 23 shooting in which a man suffered a leg wound at the project, sources said. When cops moved in to grab him, he struggled and broke free, then ran into a building on nearby Broad Street, where he allegedly forced his way into a stranger's apartment. The terrified tenant told cops the intruder threw her on the bed, held a hand over her mouth and threatened to kill her if she screamed. Cops tracked down Sanders about an hour later. He was arrested and charged with burglary, resisting arrest and unlawful imprisonment, said a spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan. Cops tracked down a suspected thief a month after she was allegedly caught on camera shoplifting at a Heartland Village boutique. Charlene Thompson, 26, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the April 9 theft of three pairs of designer sunglasses worth $1,030 from the boutique on Richmond Avenue near Platinum Avenue, police sources said. A store security officer said Thompson had also been caught stealing on Feb. 12, and agreed to sign a waiver barring her from returning to the store for five years. Queens A trio of 19-year-old crooks not only left behind their loot in their haste to escape, but readily confessed to cops after they were caught stripping a car in a Flushing garage, cops said. The three thieves were spotted hauling parts from the garage on Booth Memorial Avenue near 163rd Street at 2 a.m. Tuesday, police sources said. The crew became spooked and attempted to flee, allegedly leaving behind a bag of additional car parts and tools worth $2,500. Cops quickly caught up with the three men, and each confessed to a role in the heist, the sources said. A pawn-shop employee was arrested after more than $6,000 worth of jewelry vanished from the shop. Daniel Cedano, 27, a cashier at the 82nd and Roosevelt Pawn and Jewelers was arrested Tuesday after the shop's owner stumbled upon a mysterious theft. Cops said a woman in November had pawned seven 18-karat bracelets and a diamond ring. When she returned in March with a pawn receipt, she was told shop records indicated that her jewelry had been sold for $829. But upon closer inspection, the owner determined the records had been forged and determined Cedano was responsible, sources said. A woman was arrested Tuesday for shoplifting after she was caught with a purse full of stolen tooth-whitening strips, police sources said. Cops said Giovanni Leone, 46, was nabbed at the Rite Aid pharmacy on Austin Street near Continental Avenue in Forest Hills shortly after 2:30 p.m. after a security guard caught her trying to walk out with several boxes of unpaid-for merchandise. Later that day, Leone appeared before a judge and threw in the towel. She pleaded guilty to petit larceny and was sentenced to 15 days in jail, police sources said. A gun-toting robber was charged with threatening and beating a man in Laurelton. Cops said Lee Smith walked into the Merrick King Deli and Grocery on Merrick Boulevard near Springfield Boulevard shortly after 8:20 a.m. Monday and offered to sell a man the .45-caliber handgun Smith had tucked in his waistband. The man declined, so Smith allegedly reached for the gun and demanded the victim's watch and chain. When the man turned to flee, Smith punched him in the face and tried to snatch the gold chain around his neck, sources said. Cops arrested Smith, 23. Brooklyn A woman was arrested after she allegedly threw bleach in her ex-boyfriend's face. Suzette Palmer, 33, had been arguing with her ex shortly after 11 a.m. Monday at Lott Avenue and Bristol Street in East New York when she splashed him in the face with the caustic liquid, police sources said. The 39-year-old victim was not seriously hurt.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
Bronx A man was mortally wounded in a Belmont stabbing, police said yesterday. Ivan Torres was found badly wounded in front of an East 182nd Street building, near Park Avenue, Tuesday after 11 p.m. The victim was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. Brooklyn A Brownsville parolee was nabbed after he robbed an East Flatbush cellphone store at knifepoint, authorities said yesterday. Timmie Cotton, 29, walked into the T-Mobile outlet on Utica Avenue near Linden Boulevard on March 21 at 10 a.m. and asked a security guard how to get a phone repaired, sources said. The guard recognized the suspect from prior shoplifting attempts and told him to leave, officials said. One of Cotton's accomplices began struggling with the guard while the suspect and another accomplice snatched five display phones, the sources said. Cotton was picked up Tuesday during a visit to a parole officer and charged with robbery, criminal possession of stolen property and menacing, among other crimes, according to a spokesman for DA Charles Hynes. * A man was busted after going on a rampage and threatening a woman with a machete at a bakery in Kensington, officials said. Mohamed Salahi, 27, got into an argument with the victim's son inside the Cortelyou Road store on Tuesday just after 5 p.m. The son contacted his mother, who quickly came by the store to find Salahi brandishing the machete, sources said. Salahi allegedly waved the weapon in the woman's face, threatening to slash her, the sources said. Salahi was arrested 20 minutes later and charged with menacing, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the DA's spokesman. * A Bedford-Stuyvesant man blew it by snatching a pair of hair dryers from a Bushwick drugstore and assaulting the manager who tried to stop him, authorities said. The manager of the Duane Reade on Broadway near Flushing Avenue watched as Kevin McRae, 51, snatched the merchandise off the shelf and put them in a bag Tuesday just before 9 a.m., sources said. As McRae passed the registers and made his way to the door, the manager tried to stop him from leaving, spurring a brawl that spilled outside the store. Cops busted McRae for assault and criminal possession of stolen property, according to the DA's spokesman. Staten Island An alleged pervert was nabbed for sexually assaulting a woman in his home, sources said. Charles Bennett, 39, of Villa Avenue, received a visit from the 36-year-old victim last Friday, who for unknown reasons came by to drop off some lamps. It was not immediately known if they had been previously acquainted. As the victim was turned away, Bennett approached and grabbed her buttocks, sources said. The victim fled to another room, but Bennett followed and allegedly performed a lewd act in front of her, the sources said. Bennett was picked up Tuesday and charged with sexual abuse and other crimes, according to a spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan. * A construction worker was busted when for unknown reasons he tried to trash his sister's car early yesterday in New Springville, sources said. Edward Willette, 34, of Whiting, NJ, was seen driving his sister's stolen 2008 Mercury Mariner at 2 a.m. on Radford Street, authorities said. A witness spotted Willette pouring gasoline on the car and called cops. Investigators also allegedly found the steering wheel and the ignition broken. Damages were estimated at more than $3,000, authorities said. Willette was charged with grand larceny, according to a Donovan spokesman. * A New Dorp teen was arrested for tossing eggs at a woman's car and fighting with the cops who busted him, authorities said. Last November, John Costanza, 19, of Locust Avenue, was spotted hurling the eggs at the victim's 2003 Chevy on Hopkins Avenue near Thollen Street, resulting in $1,200 in damages. When detectives caught up with Costanza Tuesday night, on Hylan Boulevard near Elmtree Avenue, the suspect began punching and kicking them, sources said. Costanza was charged with assault, resisting arrest and harassment, the DA's spokesman said. Manhattan A man was struck and killed yesterday by a taxi on the Upper West Side, police said. The unidentified victim was walking on Columbus Avenue near 105th Street just after midnight when the taxi, traveling southbound, struck him. The victim was taken to St. Luke's Hospital where he was pronounced dead two hours later. The driver stayed at the scene and there was no apparent criminality in the crash, police said.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
STATEN ISLAND* Police yesterday were searching for three thieves who robbed a man at gunpoint in a Port Richmond store. The suspects (one pictured above) confronted a 20-year-old victim in the bodega at Port Richmond Avenue and Clinton Place at 1:45 a.m. last Wednesday. One of the suspects pulled a gun while his accomplices swiped money from the victim. No one was injured. BROOKLYN* A Park Slope restaurant patron stole two pieces of silverware after threatening a waiter with a knife, authorities said yesterday. Cesar Sanabria, 50, began screaming about the restroom in the Fifth Avenue Diner at Nine Street and Fifth Avenue at around 1:25 a.m. Sunday, police sources said. When the waiter, 26, asked him to leave, Sanabria allegedly picked up a fork and knife and threatened the employee. He then fled with the silverware, cops said. The waiter called 911 and Sanabria was arrested on charges of menacing and petit larceny. * A bat-wielding thug threatened a neighbor and smashed a window at a Sunset Park home early yesterday, authorities said. Luis Bonilla, 39, argued with his neighbor, Joaquin Torres, 60, over Bonilla allegedly trying to take Torres' scooter at 43rd Street near Third Avenue at around 12:30 a.m., sources said. Bonilla allegedly struck Torres in the face and left, but quickly returned with a baseball bat and smashed Torres' window, cops said. Police arrested Bonilla, who was charged with menacing, attempted assault and criminal mischief. MANHATTAN* An alleged pimp and an accomplice were arrested for robbing and beating a man at gunpoint in Hell's Kitchen, authorities said yesterday. Luis Lopez, 38, and Ivan Ayala, 29, approached the man at 46th Street and Ninth Avenue at 1:20 p.m. last Friday, a court complaint said. Lopez asked the man if he "wanted girls" while Ayala flashed a black gun and swiped the man's wallet, the complaint stated. Ayala then grabbed the man's camera and keys as Lopez struck him in the face, sources said. Cops on patrol quickly nabbed the suspects, who were slapped with various charges including robbery, a spokeswoman for the DA's Office said. The victim was not seriously injured. * Police caught a pickpocket red-handed as he swiped a cellphone from a man snoozing in a lower Manhattan subway station, authorities said yesterday. Kenneth Washington, 43, was arrested in a station near City Hall shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, sources said. A cop saw Washington filch the phone from the man's coat pocket and grabbed him, sources said. Washington was charged with grand larceny and possession of stolen property, the DA's spokeswoman said. * The cop involved in a dust-up with a former Philadelphia TV news anchor in December nabbed a thief in Chelsea early Sunday, authorities said yesterday. Officer Bernadette Enchautegui grabbed David Holiday, 44, on robbery charges at the Empire Diner on 10th Avenue near 22nd Street at 12:33 a.m., sources said. About a half-hour earlier, Holiday had approached a 20-year-old man and his friends a few blocks away, sources said. The suspect asked the 20-year-old if he wanted a flier, then suddenly grabbed him in a bear hug, took $100 from his pocket and punched him in the forehead. The suspect tried to flee via taxi, but three cabbies locked him out, the sources said. The victim and his friends chased Holiday, who ran into the diner, cops said. Employees locked the suspect in and his pursuers out and called police, and Enchautegui made the arrest. In December, ex-TV news anchor Alycia Lane allegedly slugged Enchautegui on duty after berating the cop for driving too slowly, police said. Lane was fired from her job, and has filed a notice of claim against the city. The charges against Lane were dropped to misdemeanors, in anticipation of dismissal if she stays out of trouble. * A burglar who snatched $12,000 from a safe in a Stuyvesant Town store was arrested, authorities said yesterday. Eloy Perez, 19, allegedly walked into an office at the store on First Avenue near 15th Street at about 11:45 a.m. on April 29. Using a screwdriver, he pried open the safe and made off with the cash, sources said. An employee spotted Perez fleeing and called police, cops said. Perez was tracked down Friday and charged with grand larceny and burglary.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
BrooklynThis teen is wanted in connection with the slaying of an NYPD officer's son in Bushwick last week, police said yesterday. Andrew Campos, 18, allegedly stabbed 18-year-old Renato Scantlebury on Gates Avenue near Bushwick Avenue at 6 p.m. Thursday. Scantlebury's mother is a police officer assigned to the department's recruitment office. * A Florida woman visiting relatives in Brighton Beach was punched in the face by a teen yesterday after arguing with his female friend. The 50-year-old victim, whose name was not released, was slugged on Banner Avenue at Brighton Eighth Street at 9 a.m., cops said. Both teens fled. * A group of thugs robbed a Fort Greene grocery store and threatened employees with a boxcutter, police said yesterday. The incident unfolded when one of the suspects, Richard Hagins, 23, tried buying something at the store on Fulton Street and St. James Place Sunday at 12:20 a.m. with a ripped $5 bill, police said. An employee refused the money, which prompted Hagins to pull out a boxcutter, cops said. His friends Dominique Carter, 19, Capri Carter, 22, and Charlene Boyd then stole food, tried to open the register, and kicked an employee, police said. Hagins was eating potato chips and holding ice-cream when cops arrested him. His friends were also caught, and they were all charged with petit larceny, robbery and harassment. Manhattan A Harlem man was fatally shot in a public-housing complex early yesterday morning. Antonio Tate, 24, had argued with the gunman at the Polo Ground shortly before 5 a.m., police said. Tate was shot three times in the torso. He was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he died. Police had made no arrests by last night. * A cop smelled something fishy when he caught a homeless man with a bag containing stolen frozen salmon filets and shrimp on the Upper East Side, authorities said yesterday. The officer spotted Clifford Freeman, 45, coming out of an alleyway leading to the basement of a cafe on Madison Avenue near East 65th Street at about 2:20 a.m. Saturday, sources said. Freeman allegedly had just swiped the food from the eatery's freezer. * A teen was busted for stealing 144 bottles of nail polish worth $1,169 from a lower Manhattan Duane Reade, authorities said. John Mitchell, 16, and two others, who have not been arrested, took the nail polish from the store on Williams Street on March 6, police said. Staten Island A West New Brighton man allegedly raped a woman after he broke into her apartment. Reynold Cato, 24, broke into the apartment at 1 a.m. on April 23 and assaulted the woman while she was sleeping, police said. He threatened to kill her, then raped her and stole jewelry, police said. Cato was arrested on Saturday afternoon after police matched DNA and fingerprints that were found at the apartment. Cato initially denied the incident, but then confessed to it after police said they had his DNA, authorities said. The suspect replied, "If my DNA is there, I know all about science. I must have done it," a source said. He was charged with rape, criminal sex assault, robbery and burglary, said a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. * A young Port Richmond man was busted for robbing a man and then swinging a belt with a heavy metal buckle at police, authorities said. Rojelio Villanova, 24, approached the victim on Port Richmond Avenue near Castleton Avenue early Saturday morning. He searched the man's pockets and found a pack of cigarettes, police said. Villanova also allegedly took off his leather belt and swung at the victim. Cops were called and the suspect tried hitting a detective with the metal belt buckle, a law-enforcement source said. Villanova was charged with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest. * A Midland Beach teenager was arrested for spray-painting graffiti on 75 locations throughout Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan, police said yesterday. Joseph Battaglia, 18, began spray-painting the name "Rank" in red, orange and blue in January 2007, cops said. Since then, the "tag" has popped up on commercial buildings, homes and street signs in three boroughs. He was charged with criminal mischief and making graffiti.
NYPD DAILY CRIME BLOTTER
ManhattanA homeless man was caught with 25 glassine envelopes of crack cocaine in Central Park, police sources said yesterday. Police nabbed William Sellers, 52, with the narcotics and two crack pipes on Friday, the sources said. Sellers, who was wanted on two active warrants, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. It was unclear what the warrants were for. * A man assaulted a cabby and damaged his vehicle during an argument on the Upper East Side, police sources said yesterday. Frank Sestak, 34, asked the cabby if he was on duty at First Avenue and East 93rd Street at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, according to the sources. The driver, 25, said, "No, I'm parking." Sestak became irate, breaking the driver's-side window with his hands and assaulting the cabby, authorities said. He was charged with assault and criminal mischief and given a desk-appearance ticket. The victim suffered minor injuries. * A middle-aged woman was busted for damaging a door at a Murray Hill hotel, police sources said yesterday. Candy Jones, 49, was in the lobby of the Cavalier Hotel on East 34th Street when she smashed the front door with a chair at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, sources said. Jones, whose motive was unclear, faces charges of criminal mischief. * A West Village man was grabbed by police after pepper-spraying a cabdriver and a passer-by, police sources said yesterday. Kevin Rayoni, 37, of Christopher Street, got into a spat with the 45-year-old cabby at West 11th and Greenwich streets at 11:45 p.m. Thursday, the sources said. Rayoni allegedly shot pepper spray into the driver's eyes. Then he did the same to a passer-by who interceded. Rayoni was charged with assault. Neither victim was seriously injured. * A man choked his girlfriend and threatened to kill her in their Upper West Side apartment, sources said yesterday. Frank Lanza, 25, allegedly threw the victim, 26, against a wall in their West 63rd Street home at 9 a.m. Friday. Then he allegedly choked her and threatened to kill her and her family. Lanza was charged with assault. The victim suffered minor injuries. * An Upper West Side man landed behind bars after he assaulted his father in their apartment, police sources said yesterday. Zachary Curtis, 28, allegedly struck his 62-year-old dad in the face and head in their West End Avenue apartment at 8:25 p.m. Friday. The victim refused medical attention. Curtis was charged with assault. * Two muggers attacked a man and stole his laptop computer and camcorder, authorities said yesterday. The violence took place early on the morning of April 18, while the man was walking along East 32nd Street. One of the thugs blocked his path and tried to grab the electronic equipment. When he resisted, the second mugger stepped in, bashed him with a piece of wood and both ran off with the loot. The victim, who was not seriously hurt, had been on his way to make a plane and did not report the theft until last Friday. The Bronx A motorist was fighting for his life yesterday after his SUV slammed into a tree on the Bronx River Parkway, police said. The 29-year-old man, whose name was withheld, was driving south near Exit 5 at around 6 a.m., when the accident happened. He was rushed to Jacobi Hospital. Brooklyn A dimwitted thief who swiped more than $10,000 from two Brooklyn banks was captured after he returned to one of the branches and tried to rob it a third time, authorities said yesterday. Marvin Scarville, 39, allegedly struck first at the HSBC bank on Montague Street near Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights at 12:10 p.m. on March 10. He passed a demand note to a teller, who turned over $5,000, sources said. He struck again at the same branch at 5:40 p.m. on April 4 and made off with $400, cops said. Then, on April 18 at 3:20 p.m., he hit the Sovereign Bank branch on Atlantic Avenue at Court Street in Cobble Hill, where he swiped $6,000, police said. Scarville went back to the HSBC branch on May 1, but this time, an employee recognized him and called police. He was charged with robbery. * A Bedford-Stuyvesant woman slashed her boyfriend after he woke her up to offer her breakfast, authorities said yesterday. Carol Annunziata, 47, got angry at the 46-year-old man in their apartment on Lewis Avenue at about 8 a.m. Thursday, cops said. Annunziata grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed the victim across his left knee, inflicting a wound that required 50 stitches to close. The suspect fled on a bicycle, but was captured about 40 minutes later and charged with assault, police said.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
MANHATTAN * A pair of crooks was caught on camera during a string of gunpoint robberies at pharmacies in Manhattan and The Bronx. Cops said the bandits, who both wore hooded sweatshirts and brandished guns, first struck on Jan. 31, when they robbed a Rite Aid pharmacy on The Grand Concourse near East Mount Eden Avenue in Highbridge. On Feb. 13, the same two crooks robbed the Amsterdam Pharmacy on Amsterdam Avenue near West 146th Street in Hamilton Heights. On April 21, they returned to the Amsterdam Pharmacy, cops said, and escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash. STATEN ISLAND * Cops caught up with a robber after he assaulted an employee of a Mariners Harbor repair garage and then looted the place. Gregory Bell, 45, walked into the garage on Morningstar Road near Richmond Terrace shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday and tried to sell an employee a television. When he was told to leave, he refused and started arguing with an employee. The argument turned into a brawl and he allegedly struck the worker in the mouth. Bell then grabbed several tools and a hand truck to cart them away. When the employee tried to stop him, Bell pulled out what appeared to be a gun and threatened him, sources said. Bell was later arrested but the hand truck and tools were not recovered, according to a spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan. * A drug suspect tried to swallow the evidence when cops nabbed him in Willowbrook. Cops were watching as one man passed cash to another in exchange for drugs at Manor Road and Holden Boulevard at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. When cops moved in, the buyer roared off on a motorcycle and the suspected dealer stuffed a small bag of contraband in his mouth, sources said. He tried to fight off cops but, with the help of Mace, police were able to wrestle him into custody and force him to spit out the bag, which contained 15 smaller bags of crack cocaine, sources said. The suspected dealer, Barsharwn Farrow, 28, was charged with drug sale, possession and resisting arrest. THE BRONX * A man was gunned down early yesterday in Mott Haven. Cops responded to a report of gunfire shortly after 3 a.m. at East 139th Street and Morris Avenue and found Michael Varlack, 35. He had been shot in the chest, arm and back, cops said. He was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he died.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
BROOKLYN* Cops yesterday tracked down an alleged crook wanted in connection with three bank robberies in which he stole more than $10,000 in a single month. Marvin Scarville, 39, was arrested outside the Citibank branch on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, police said. One of the banks he targeted was the HSBC branch on Montgomery Place near Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights on March 10, cops said. He allegedly returned to the same branch on April 4 and last struck on April 18 at the Sovereign branch on Atlantic Avenue near Clinton Street in Downtown Brooklyn, sources said. In each robbery, he threatened the teller and demanded cash, police said. STATEN ISLAND * Two men were arrested after they beat and tried to rob an undercover cop in New West Brighton. The officer went to a home on Britton Street near Broadway shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday to investigate allegations of prostitution. Two men greeted him at the front door and one asked, "Are you a cop?" The other jumped at the cop and tried to kick him. "I'm not a cop. I hate cops!" the undercover said. The men rifled through the officer's pockets, then tried to drag him into the house. Cops moved in, broke up the melee and arrested Manuel Gonzalez, 26 and Michael Johnson, 19. They were charged with robbery, assault and weapons and drug possession, police said. QUEENS * A man with some pretty deep pockets was arrested Thursday for trespass at a housing development. Marty Downs, 52, of Briarwood, was stopped and questioned by cops after he was found trespassing at the Queensbridge Houses on Vernon Boulevard near 40th Avenue in Long Island City shortly before 7 p.m. Cops searched him and found $15,000 - all in $100 bills - in his pocket. They also found a small stack of MetroCards and ATM cards, as well as three rocks of crack cocaine and a switchblade, police sources said. He was charged with criminal trespass, possession of a controlled substance and weapons possession. MANHATTAN * The two crooks pictured above looted a West Side home. The duo knocked on the door of an apartment on 87th Street near West End Avenue shortly before 11:30 a.m. and a 10-year-old girl opened the door. The men asked to speak to an adult, and they followed the girl into the home. Once inside, a 40-year- old resident encountered the two intruders and they forced her to accompany the little girl to a separate room while they looted the home. The men escaped with a laptop computer, camera and an undisclosed amount of cash, police said. * Cops caught a burglar red-handed as he left the scene of the crime. Police responded to an alarm at the True Religion clothing shop on Prince Street near Wooster Street shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday. Cops searched the area and found Christopher Smith of The Bronx a block from the store on West Broadway, carrying two shopping bags stuffed with clothes. He was also in possession of a small amount of marijuana, police sources said. He was charged with burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and drug possession. THE BRONX * Police are seeking the public's help in locating the 13-year-old boy pictured above. Ameer Howard Powers, of Hunts Point, was last seen at 9 a.m. on April 27 on Fox Street near Westchester Avenue. He was wearing a red shirt, blue jeans, a black hat and red and black sneakers. He is in poor mental health, police said. * A teenage gunman was arrested in connection with a shooting in Mott Haven Tysean Bruce, 17, was busted Thursday and charged with attempted murder in connection with the April 15 shooting in which a 31-year-old man was shot several times, police sources said. Police did not disclose a motive for the attack.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
Manhattan* A gun-toting thug was arrested in connection with a violent apartment robbery in Washington Heights, authorities said yesterday. Jorge Arias, 20, and two accomplices allegedly forced their way into a West 176th Street apartment at gunpoint at about 5:30 a.m. last May 6. After identifying themselves as cops to the occupants, a family of three, the suspects allegedly swiped about $4,000, a Playstation game console and a cellphone. One perpetrator pistol-whipped one of the victims, then tied him up and pummeled and kicked him, cops said. Arias was captured Tuesday and charged with burglary, robbery and criminal impersonation, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan DA's Office said. * A homeless woman was arrested in Midtown for threatening to slash a witness scheduled to testify against the woman's boyfriend in a prostitution case, authorities said yesterday. Latoya Myrie, 19, confronted the witness, a woman, at Eighth Avenue and 40th Street at around 2 p.m. on April 14, sources said. Referring to her boyfriend, Myrie allegedly snarled, "We're living on the street because of you. Don't testify or you won't see your kids. I'll cut up your face." The woman, a grand-jury witness against Thomas Spann, a suspect charged with promoting prostitution in Queens, alerted cops, sources said. Myrie was tracked down Monday and charged with witness tampering. * Police are seeking the public's assistance in finding the woman pictured above. Cops said Sharon Jackson, 42, was last seen on April 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Mount Sinai Hospital on Fifth Avenue near 98th Street. Police said Jackson, who lives on Columbus Avenue, is in poor mental condition. * Detectives are hunting the Chelsea bank robber pictured above. The crook demanded cash from a teller at the Citibank branch at Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street shortly after 3:40 p.m. Tuesday. He received an unspecified sum and fled. THE BRONX* Cops found a woman stabbed to death and her roommate attempting to flee their Riverdale apartment, police said. Responding officers smelled smoke when they arrived at the apartment on Arlington Avenue near West 259th Street shortly after 3 a.m. They forced open the door and saw Anthony Silva, 51, throwing his belongings out a window, police said. They apprehended him, then went into the bathroom and found Silva's roommate, Linda Jiminez, 54, whom he had stabbed in the chest, cops said. Silva was charged with murder and manslaughter. Brooklyn* A dimwitted purse-snatcher was busted in Boerum Hill after he told police he was holding the pocketbook for a friend, authorities said yesterday. The incident began at 1 p.m. last Friday when the victim, a 39-year-old woman, put her purse on a counter in a store at Schermerhorn and Bond streets. After she left the shop, she realized she had left the purse behind and went back inside to find it was gone. She alerted cops, who spotted Brown carrying the purse nearby. Brown said he was holding the purse for a friend and pointed to the victim, saying, "That's her right there," sources said. He was charged with petit larceny. Staten Island* Three people were arrested on drug charges after police executed a search warrant at their New Brighton apartment, authorities said yesterday. Krista Cobbs, 36, Robert Knox, 33, and Anthony Mack, 40, were in the Brighton Avenue apartment near Trumbull Place when police entered at about 5:10 a.m. Wednesday, sources said. Cops found four plastic bags of crack cocaine in the bedroom. The three were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, said DA spokesman Daniel Donovan.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
The BronxThis scamster used Craigslist.com to swindle two people out of two months' rent each for an East Tremont apartment that was occupied, police said yesterday. The hustler placed an ad for an apartment on Prospect Avenue near East 175th Street, cops said. On Feb. 4, he took a cash deposit from a 49-year-old man, cops said. Two days later, he allegedly pulled the same scam on a 26-year-old woman. Both victims went to the apartment, only to find it occupied. Manhattan A serial subway pervert was busted after he groped a woman aboard a Manhattan train, authorities said yesterday. Charles Smith, 46, of Brooklyn, sneaked up behind the 38-year-old woman on a No. 4 train heading from Grand Central Station to 14th Street at 9:55 a.m. Monday, according to a court complaint. Smith then allegedly fondled her. She screamed at him to back off and Smith complied, authorities said. A cop saw the confrontation and cuffed Smith. Smith pleaded guilty in two similar cases in 2000 and 2006 in Manhattan and Brooklyn and served time for both. * Three thugs handcuffed and robbed a man on a Lower East Side street, police said yesterday. The 20-year-old victim, whose name was withheld, was accosted on Suffolk Street at 11:30 p.m. last Friday, cops said. The trio hurled the man to the ground, where one cuffed him and the others rifled through his pockets, snatching his money and ATM card and forcing him to give up his PIN, police said. The ruffians then withdrew his cash. * A South Carolina man has been arrested for raping and choking a 13-year- old girl in East Harlem, authorities said yesterday. Laquantes Bluett, 19, allegedly attacked the child in an apartment building on East 102nd Street near First Avenue on March 2, 2007. Bluett was collared on Friday and charged with rape, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan DA said. * Police busted a man who assaulted his mother with a metal cane in her Harlem apartment, authorities said yesterday. Edwin King, 28, struck his mom about the body in her apartment on Convent Avenue at West 145th Street at around 7:10 a.m. Sunday, according to a court complaint. Then he allegedly bit her face in the presence of her 7-year-old child. Police busted King on charges of assault and child endangerment. Queens A man was shot to death in Far Rockaway, police said yesterday. A mortally wounded Rahim Sutton, 33, was found in his apartment on Rockaway Beach Boulevard near Beach 84th Street after cops responded to a call there at around 11 p.m. Tuesday. Sutton was rushed to Peninsula General Hospital, where he died. Staten Island A Brooklyn podiatrist was arrested for making dozens of harassing phone calls to his estranged wife on Staten Island, authorities said yesterday. Between April 2 and April 26, John Libertella, 44, made the calls to his wife's home and her workplace, sources said. One time, he allegedly said, "If you try to divorce me, things are going to get ugly. You don't know what you are in for. I'll start carrying a weapon." Libertella was busted Tuesday and charged with aggravated harassment, a spokesman DA Daniel Donovan said.Brooklyn Three teens were busted after they robbed a Park Slope woman at gunpoint, cops said yesterday. Germanin Richard, 19, Michael Harrell, 17, and Ryan Foy, 16, confronted the 30-year-old woman as she was walking to her apartment on 13th Street near Fourth Avenue at 11:50 p.m. Sunday, sources said. Richard allegedly pointed a pistol at the woman and swiped her bag containing a laptop, camera, cellphone and wallet. Then he placed the gun against her temple while his accomplices shoved her against a wall, rifled her pockets and removed her iPod, cops said. * Police are asking for the public's help finding this elderly woman, who disappeared in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Minerva Sanders, 89, who has Alzheimer's disease, was last seen in her apartment on Fulton Street near Marcus Garvey Boulevard at 3:15 p.m. Monday. She was wearing a black, waist-length jacket, black skirt and black shoes.
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
ManhattanA raging motorist assaulted a construction worker and threatened to knife him after a fender-bender near the American Museum of Natural History, authorities said yesterday. The trouble began at 3:15 p.m. Friday as Enver Dzaferovic, 39, was driving on Central Park West at 81st Street at 3:15 p.m. and got into a fender-bender with Bolivar Ferreira, 40, outside the museum, sources said. The men got out of their vehicles and Ferreira allegedly grabbed Dzaferovic by the throat and punched him in the face. Dzaferovic ran and called 911 as Ferreira allegedly chased him waving a knife. Ferreira was arrested and charged with assault and weapon possession. Two thugs were arrested for beating a cabby after damaging his taxi on the Upper East Side, authorities said yesterday. Michael Reyes, 17, and Edwin Ramirez, 20, for unknown reasons allegedly kicked a garbage can into the gutter at Fifth Avenue at 76th Street to prevent the cab from moving forward at 6:10 p.m. Saturday. The two then smashed the taxi's side-view mirror and shattered the driver-side window. They then assaulted the driver, authorities said. Responding cops busted the suspects, who were charged with assault and criminal mischief, the DA's spokeswoman said. A hit-and-run driver was arrested for running over a man and crushing his legs during a Midtown melee, authorities said yesterday. Sergio Arechiga, 25, of Spring Valley, was tracked down Sunday and charged with attempted murder in the Feb. 3 incident at 48th and Lexington. In the early-morning hours, Arechiga got in the middle of a heated argument among several people in a garage across the Helmsley Middletowne Hotel, sources said. Arechiga jumped into a white Cadillac SUV and sped away, allegedly intentionally running over a drunken man, who suffered a dislocated knee and hip. BrooklynA Flatbush man was arrested for beating and kicking his landlord, who had confronted him about stealing electric service from the building, authorities said yesterday. The trouble started at noon on Feb. 15, when the 61-year-old super of the Hawthorne Street building saw an extension cord leading out of Virice Webb's apartment and plugged into an outside socket, cops said. The super disconnected the cord and confronted Webb, cops said. Webb allegedly became enraged and punched and kicked the super. Police arrested Webb Monday on assault charges. Burglars made off with $130,000 in furs after an early morning break-in at a Brighton Beach boutique. The crooks escaped with 30 fur coats from the Pelame Top Design Studios on Brighton Beach Avenue. They cut the locks from the metal gate and smashed the front window. Cops tracked down a moving-company employee who swiped $120 from a Bedford-Stuyvesant man in an armed robbery, authorities said yesterday. Lawrence Booker, 44, was helping the 43-year-old victim move from The Bronx to his new home on Lafayette Avenue at about 6:30 p.m. last May 18, sources said. After the victim paid him, Booker and an accomplice, wielding a screwdriver, demanded more money, cops said. The victim withdrew $120 from an ATM machine and handed the cash to the suspects, who fled. On Monday, Booker was spotted in Queens and arrested on charges of robbery and menacing. Staten IslandA thief stole computer equipment from Staten Island University Hospital, police said yesterday. It was not immediately clear whether any patient information was taken. A gun-toting thief was busted for swiping a man's wallet and cellphone in Stapleton, authorities said yesterday. Edgar Baez, 37, brandished a handgun and approached the man at Targee and Young streets at 8 p.m. Sunday, cops said. Baez demanded cash, and the victim turned over his cellphone and a wallet containing $300, police said. Baez fled, but a police sergeant later spotted him carrying the firearm at the Stapleton Houses, cops said. A spokesman for DA Daniel Donovan said Baez was charged with robbery and weapon possession. A drunken man beat and slashed his girlfriend in Prince's Bay, authorities said yesterday. Eric Ibanez, 31, clashed with his 28-year-old gal pal at Seguine Avenue and Florence Place at about 10:45 p.m. Monday as she tried to leave because he was wasted, sources said. Ibanez allegedly socked her in the face, and as she jumped into her car in a bid to flee, he lunged through an open window with a knife and threatened to kill her, authorities said. Cops arrested Ibanez, who was charged with assault and weapon possession, a Donovan spokesman said. A teenager who claimed he needed money to pay off debts was arrested for embezzling $3,500 from the Banana Republic store where he worked, authorities said yesterday. Kevin Tech, 19, stole cash on 10 separate occasions in the store at the Staten Island Mall from December 2007 to March 2008, sources said.