Dog day afternoon
Arrests are expected to be handed down in the now infamous Salty Dog brawl where a group of active and retired firefighters brutalized a group of revelers over a spilled drink.
Sources said that the city’s Department of Investigation was expected to release their findings within the next few days about the fight, which was reportedly caught on video.
Four men were at the bar, 7509 Third Avenue, back on January 29 when one of them knocked into a firefighter, spilling his drink.
That’s when, according to published reports, a dozen firefighters jumped the quartet, dragging one of the men into a bathroom where he was viciously beaten.
Some of the firefighters involved were members of Engine Company 310 in East Flatbush. All of the active firefighters were off duty at the time of the incident.
Officials said that the victims initially did not want to press charges, but soon changed their mind after hiring lawyer Joe Tacopina.
Tacopina told reporters that he and his clients are waiting for the outcome of the investigation before deciding if they should sue the FDNY.
Striking out
A former Xaverian High School baseball coach has been implicated in a widespread illegal betting scam involving organized crime.
According to published reports, 46-year-old Gerard Bruzzese, who coached Freshman baseball for the Catholic school until last year, sidelined as a bookie and took bets from gamblers ranging from $200 to $2000 just paces away from the Xaverian High School ballfields. Sometimes he would take the bets in his coaching uniform, officials said.
Investigators linked him to www.nysportswager.com, which is tied to the Luchese crime family.
Bruzzese left the team after the last season, officials said, adding that when it became known that he was being investigated, questions began surfacing about how he was hired in the first place.
Officials said that Bruzzese, who had been coaching since 2002, had been convicted of securities fraud in 1999. He was apparently hired by Xaverian head coach Dennis Canale, who was reportedly arrested in 1996 for possession of gambling records but later pled guilty to disorderly conduct.
Canale also left Xaverian last year, as the Kings County District Attorney’s office began their probe, officials said.
Cars looted
Two Bay Ridge motorists were singing the blues last week after thieves busted in and looted their cabins.
On February 1, a 48-year-old man told police that someone had shattered the passenger side window to his 2004 Honda as it sat on Shore Road near 69th Street. A GPS device and a Dell laptop computer were taken.
Four days later, a 39-year-old woman said that someone had broken the passenger side window to her 2005 Ford F250 close to her home on 80th Street near Narrows Avenue. The woman said that she parked her car at 5 p.m. on February 5, and when she returned at 1:30 p.m. on February 6, the window was shattered and the GPS device and satellite radio were removed.
Cops were looking for the car looters as this paper went to press.
Wheel whisk
We hate to say it, but we’re getting tired of hearing about this.
A 65-year-old motorist said that a purloining pit crew made off with all four of his tires as his 2010 Nissan Maxima was parked outside a 10th Avenue home near 81st Street.
The victim said he had parked his car at 1:30 a.m. on February 5.
When he returned to his vehicle, his tires and rims were missing.
Wheel thefts like this one have become quite common of late in Bay Ridge, as well as Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park. The wheels on newer Nissans and Hondas are quite popular among drag racers pinching pennies on their automobile parts.
Wallet swiped
A thief saw a misplaced wallet as an open opportunity — as well as a chance to get a bunch of MetroCards last week.
A 25-year-old woman told police that she was shopping in a Duane Reade on 86th Street between Fourth and Fifth avenues at noon on January 31 when she accidentally left her wallet on a cashier’s table.
When she realized that she had left her wallet behind, she went back to the store, but it was already gone.
Whoever took it reportedly used one of the woman’s ATM cards to buy several MetroCards at the 86th Street station at Fourth Avenue, officials said.
Sovereign Bank siphoning
A 28-year-old 85th Street woman called police last week claiming that someone had sucked nearly $5,000 from her Sovereign Bank account.
The woman said that the withdrawals, which were made without the victim’s consent, took place over the Verrazano Bridge in nearby Staten Island.
The discrepancy was discovered when the victim checked her balance online on February 5, said police, who were trying to track the identify thief down as this paper went to press.
Convenient store raid
Over $500 in receipts, a box of cigars and an assortment of Lotto tickets were taken from a Fort Hamilton Parkway convenience store during a daring nighttime raid.
Workers at the Three Guys Convenience Store near 66th Street told police that three men entered the store at 11:15 p.m. on January 27 brandishing a handgun.
As one of the thieves trained his weapon on a startled employee, his partner went behind the counter, taking the cash and cigars.
That’s when a second accomplice came in, removing a roll of scratch off tickets.
The thieves then fled, but not before they began quibbling with each other, the victim noted, remembering that when the third thief came in to take the Lotto tickets, the man with the gun ordered told him to leave. Apparently his presence wasn’t part of the plan, officials said.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 68th Precinct at (718) 439-4211. All calls will be kept confidential.
