Meter menace
A cab ride through Park Slope turned sour and then downright violent after a 29-year-old man threw up in the back of the cab rolling down Fourth Avenue.
Police said that after vomiting in the middle of the 11:30 p.m. ride on February 23, Shelton Ross told the cabbie that he was going to clean everything up.
The cab driver pulled over near 14th Street as Ross went about his task, which took a few minutes.
When he was done, he was outraged to learn that the cabbie didn’t shut the meter off during his heaving hiatus and that he was going to pay for puking.
The two began to argue, officials said. When the cabbie refused to concede to Ross’ demands, he allegedly punched the cab driver in the face, leaving him with a cut lip that required stitches at a local hospital.
Responding officers took Ross into custody without incident, charging him with assault in the second degree, menacing and harassment.
Doorways within doorways
A 76-year-old woman returned to her Third Street apartment near Fifth Avenue last week only to learn that someone had punched a hole through her front door.
Police said that whoever punched his way through the door managed to get inside the apartment and take a laptop. The senior said that she hadn’t been home between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on February 17, when she was greeted by her damaged door.
Driving horrors
It seems that any time after midnight is prime time for dangerous drivers on Flatbush Avenue.
Just hours before Mayoral staffer Erinn Phelan was struck by a speeding Acura on Flatbush Avenue near Prospect Place, cops apprehended a 45-year-old drunk driver involved in a two-car crack-up on the heavily traveled strip.
Police said that Easton Biggs was motoring down Flatbush Avenue at 1:30 a.m. on February 21 when he allegedly slammed his 1996 Toyota Camry into a 2004 Chrysler.
Cops from the 78th Precinct responding to the accident took Biggs into custody after they found him unsteady on his feet. It was later determined that he had a .139 blood alcohol content — well over the legal limit.
Prosecutors did not say just where the accident took place along Flatbush Avenue, although it’s believed to have taken place between Grand Army Plaza and Atlantic Avenue.
Phelan and her friend were crossing Flatbush Avenue at 4:30 a.m. when they were mowed down by a hit-and-run driver. As of this writing cops had located and questioned the driver, who reportedly admitted herself to a psychiatric ward shortly after the accident.
Suitcase swipe
A cabbie cleaning out his car on Fourth Avenue is cursing the day he got some unwanted help.
Cops were told that the man was working on his car near Third Street at 12:15 p.m. on February 13 when he opened his trunk.
The 40-year-old said that when he went into the cabin of the 2004 Chevrolet Impala to get something, a fast-moving thief yanked a suitcase from the trunk and ran off with it.
The suitcase reportedly contained the base radio, the camera for the taxi, $25 and some tax papers with his name and Social Security Number on them.
Waving his wallet goodbye
A 71-year-old lost $150 following a visit to a neighborhood convenience store.
The victim said that he went into a Seventh Avenue grocery between 10th and 11th streets at 7:15 a.m. on February 12 to make some quick purchases.
He bought the items and exited the store, not realizing that he left his wallet on the counter.
The senior said he returned to the store within five minutes, but a sticky-fingered felon had already made off with the item, which contained his cash and credit cards.
