Knife in elevator
A young woman on her way home to her Village View residence in the East Village entered the elevator in her building at 6:30 p.m. Thurs., June 18, when a stranger armed with a knife followed her and demanded money, according to a Village View neighbor. The robber told the victim not to look at him or he would kill her, took her possessions and fled.
Cop impostors
Police are still looking for two men wanted in an April 26 robbery on E. 14th St. in which they told a victim they were police officers and then robbed him. The suspects approached the victim, 22, near E. 14th St. and Avenue B, said they were police and began to search him, police said. They then forced the victim to an A.T.M. and made him withdraw $400, which they took before fleeing, police said.
Wicked acts
Police arrested Mario Espinoza, 21, and charged him with stealing $386 and a credit card from a fellow patron in Wicked Willy’s, 149 Bleecker St., at 3:32 a.m. on Sat., June 20. The victim, 30, reported the theft shortly before 7 a.m.
On the night of June 9 a man described as 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds walked up to a 22-year-old patron of Wicked Willy’s, reminded him that they had previous argument in another bar, and then punched the victim in the face and fled.
Burglar leaves early
A burglar removed the deadbolt from the front door of Market Table diner at 54 Carmine St. sometime between midnight Sun., June 14, and 5:43 a.m. Monday and tried to force open the cash register, but fled without taking anything, police said. An employee discovered damage on Monday morning and called police.
Armored-car guard faker
Police arrested Jesus Bailey, 21, on Sat., June 13, and charged him with posing as an armored-car security guard in the 2007 theft of more than $120,000 from two stores, one on East Broadway in Chinatown and the other on St. Nicholas Ave., in Washington Heights.
Bailey, dressed in a Rapid Armor Corp. uniform and carrying a gun, made a pickup with an unidentified accomplice of about $30,000 from a store at 88 East Broadway under the Manhattan Bridge on Aug. 31, 2007. The store discovered the ruse 15 minutes later when the real Rapid Armor guard turned up.
The following day, Sept. 1, 2007, Bailey again dressed as a Rapid Armor armed guard, picked up about $90,000 from a business at 1395 St. Nicholas Ave. at 180th St., according to the charges filed by the Manhattan district attorney.
Bailey is being held pending a July 15 court date on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of a weapon.
‘What are you looking at?’
A doctor who just moved to Manhattan was beaten and robbed while walking on E. 13th St. near Third Ave. Sunday night, June 21. The victim, 27, said he noticed a group of men on the other side of the street when one of them crossed to his side and said, “What are you looking at, white boy?” The suspect then punched him, took his money and continued to hit him. The victim sustained a broken nose and a broken jaw, according to a New York Post item. There was no arrest and police are investigating.
Burglar beats it
A burglar made his way into Negril Village restaurant, 70 W. Third St. at Thompson St., shortly after 5 a.m. Sat., June 20, when a member of the cleaning crew taking out the garbage saw him and told him to leave. The burglar, described as a man in his 20s, punched and kicked the worker and fled.
Bakery bandit
A man wielding a handgun walked into a bakery on First Ave. between 13th and 14th Sts., around 8 p.m. Mon., June 15, threatened a woman employee with the gun and demanded money, police said. He fled with about $1,000 from the cash register.
Cell-phone snatch
A New Jersey woman, 23, was talking on her cell phone while walking south on LaGuardia Place around 5:40 p.m. Mon., June 22, when a teenager ran up from behind, grabbed the phone and kept on running, police said. A witness gave chase, caught up with suspect at Bleecker St. and held him for police, who charged Jamin Yaport, 16, with grand larceny.
Arrested for robbery
A visitor from Brookline, Mass., was walking on the northeast corner of Gay St. and Waverly Place at 2:50 a.m. Sun., June 21, when a man armed with a box cutter forced him to give up his wallet and digital camera, police said. The suspect fled as a police officer arrived and gave chase. The officer apprehended Rinaldo Colon, 37, and charged him with robbery. The victim’s wallet and camera were recovered from the suspect, police said.
Meat Market ‘valet’
A man set up traffic cones in a Gansevoort District driveway in front of 26 Little West 12th St. at 6:42 p.m. Fri., June 19, and stood in the traffic lane waving oncoming cars into his “parking space” and demanding a fee. Police arrested Raymond Kilgore, 44, and charged him with fraudulent accosting.
High Line bike theft
A man chained his bicycle to a pole near the W. 16th St. stairway to the High Line at 1:30 p.m. Sun., June 14. He went up for a walk in the new elevated park and returned a half-hour later to find the chain cut and the Cannondale bike valued at $1,000 was gone, police said.
Taggers arrested
Nicholas Greer, 28, of 500 E. 12th St. at Avenue A, was arrested along with Glenford Bowman, 31, of Brooklyn, at 3:30 a.m. Sun., June 7, in front of the gas station at 70 10th Ave. near 15th St., tagging the station with spray paint, police said. They were found with more than eight ounces of marijuana and charged with its possession as well as the graffiti offense.
Laptop burglar
The resident of a fourth-floor apartment at 207 W. 14th St. near Seventh Ave. went out on Friday morning June 12 and returned at 3:12 a.m. Saturday to find the front door open and five laptop computers stolen, police said.
Stolen car
Police stopped a speeding car on West St. at W. 15th St., weaving from lane to lane at 2:45 a.m. Sun., June 7, and arrested four men. Jarvis Mitchell, 35, of the Bronx, was charged with possession of stolen property after police discovered the car he was driving had been stolen. The three passengers, Tamir Tanner, 23; Derrick Moses, 31; and Craig Henderson, 41, were given desk-appearance summonses.
Gang of Four
A group of four men in the mezzanine of the subway station at Eighth Ave. and 14th St. started arguments with two victims in the station at 2:45 a.m. Sun., June 14, police said. The gang punched and kicked a Brooklyn man, 21, and a Manhattan man, 20, police said.
Albert Amateau
