Got Milk suspects
Five students from the Harvey Milk High School, the city school for gay, lesbian and transgender youth, were arrested last week and charged with impersonating police and robbing five victims in the Village, Chelsea and Lower Manhattan.
Police said the suspects in drag approached their victims, identified themselves as police and handcuffed the victims before robbing and then releasing them. The five robberies occurred during the early hours between Oct. 5 and Nov. 6, police said.
The first robbery was on Oct. 5 when two of the teens dressed in women’s clothes approached a 23-year-old man near 71 Greenwich St. across from the Brooklyn Battery Garage, took his wallet, cash and a bank card and withdrew $1,200 from the victim’s bank account, police said.
On Oct. 27, two of the suspects victimized a man, 39, at Jane and Washington Sts., handcuffed him and took his wallet and $600 before releasing him, police said. On Oct. 29, three of the suspects pulled the same caper on a 31-year-old man on 11th St. and Waverly Pl. and took $1,000 from his bank account, according to police. On. Wed., Nov. 5, two of the suspects found another victim at Jane and Washington Sts., and took his wallet and $105, police said. On Thurs. Nov. 6, three of the suspects found a victim on W. 16th St. between Sixth and Seventh Aves. and took him for $85, police said.
Police from the Sixth Precinct, aware of the suspects’ descriptions, arrested one of the suspects, Gerald Howard, 17, of Jamaica, Queens, at 3:30 p.m. last Thursday at 13th St. and Eighth Ave.
The others, arrested later on Thursday, were Kevin Williams, 17, also of Queens; Brian Gonzalez, 17, of the Lillian Wald Houses in the East Village; Keenan Oliver, 16, of Rodney St., Brooklyn; and Kelvin Howell, 17, of Walton Ave., the Bronx.
Stickup attempt
Police arrested a man and a woman shortly before midnight on Tues. Nov. 4 and charged them with holding up a couple at gunpoint near the corner of Sullivan and W. Houston Sts. The suspects, Karl Mate, 22, of E. 38th St., and Melissa Butwin, 19, homeless, fled from the scene without taking anything just before police apprehended them.
West Village holdup
Three men jumped out of a car parked on Washington St. at Leroy St. and held up a woman at gunpoint at 12:30 a.m. Wed. Nov. 5, police said.
Two of the robbers came out first and pointed black handguns at the woman, who was walking down the street talking on her cell phone, police said. She handed over one bag to one of the robbers and the other robber took a second bag that the victim had on her shoulder. A third robber then emerged from the car and took the victim’s cell phone. All three fled in the car, described as sports utility vehicle. A fourth suspect may have been driving, police said.
Arrest bank suspect
Police arrested Drossos Apostolopous, 40, on Sat. Nov. 8 in connection with seven bank robberies in Manhattan and the Bronx between Oct. 20 and Oct. 30, including one in the Village and another in Chelsea within a half hour of each other on Oct. 30; the Washington Mutual branch at Sixth Ave. at W. Fourth St. was the target at 2:15 p.m. and the Emigrant Savings branch at 250 W. 23rd St., was the target at 2:45 p.m. Police said that in both cases the suspect passed a note to a teller stating he had a gun and demanding money but fled without taking anything.
Shot on Mulberry
Police responded to a report of a shooting in front of 32 Mulberry St. across the street from the Columbus Park playground during the early hours of Sun., Nov. 9 and found a man with a gunshot wound in the lower back. The victim, 23, was taken to Bellevue in serious condition. He was arguing with five suspects, described only as Asian men, when the incident occurred at 2 a.m., police said. The victim was also Asian. There were no arrests and police are investigating the circumstances of the incident.
Bank job
A man walked into the Fourth Federal Savings branch at 242 W. 23rd St. at 3:17 p.m. Fri. Nov. 7, passed a note to a teller demanding money and fled with an undetermined amount of cash, police said.
Trick, no treat
A woman who was watching the Halloween Parade at the starting point on Sixth Ave. and Spring St. on Oct. 31 lost her wallet with $250 and several credit cards from her backpack to an unknown pickpocket who bumped into her around 10 p.m., police said.
Snatch and run
A stranger asked a woman who was walking on Sullivan near Spring St. for a cigarette at about 2 p.m. Oct. 31 and when she opened her bag to give him one, he reached in, snatched her wallet with about $300 and fled, police said.
Hate mail suspect
Scott Bain, 41, the Brentwood, Tenn., resident charged with sending more than 15 racist and anti-Semitic e-mails to New York University Stern School of Business students in April and May, has been released on parole and is scheduled to appear again in court on Dec. 16.
New York City detectives had traced the hate-inspired messages to Bain’s computer in Brentwood and detectives arrested the suspect on Oct. 7 when he came to New York voluntarily at his own expense.
Council meetings
The First Precinct Community Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tues. Nov. 25 in room B100 on the first floor of the New York Law School, 47 Worth St. Any changes will be posted at www.firstprecinct.org.
The Sixth Precinct Community Council will meet at 7:30 p.m., Wed., Nov. 19 in the basement of Our Lady of Pompeii Church, at Bleecker and Carmine Sts.
