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Plaza pugilist busted

Plaza pugilist busted

Shopping with a chip on your shoulder never works.

A 43-year-old man learned that the hard way last week when he allegedly wigged out and punched someone during a confrontation inside the Kings Plaza Mall.

Cops from them 63rd Precinct were called to the Flatbush Avenue mall at 8:30 p.m. on February 20 after suspect Steve Joseph allegedly punched another man in the face, leaving him with a cut above his eye. Witnesses told police the two men were arguing inside a mall department store when Joseph allegedly flew into a rage and began throwing over display tables.

Responding officers corralled Joseph, but the plucky shopper reportedly pushed the officer away so he could punch his victim again.

Cops finally took Joseph into custody, charging him with assault, resisting arrest and menacing.

It was unclear what sparked the argument as this paper went to press.

2X4 attacker busted

A 39-year-old man was arrested last week after he allegedly attacked another man with a two-by-four.

Cops from the 63rd Precinct were called to Flatbush Avenue near Avenue I at 11:30 a.m. on February 20 after Joseph Urbina allegedly struck his victim in the head with a wooden plank repeatedly, leaving him with some bruises and a severe headache.

Cops took Urbina into custody without incident, charging him with assault in the third degree, menacing, criminal mischief and criminal possession of a weapon.

The motive was not disclosed.

Arrest in Ralph burglary

Someone broke into a garage adjacent to a Ralph Avenue home last week, taking a computer monitor and keyboard.

Cops from the 63rd Precinct said that the owner of the home near Avenue L returned at 11 a.m. on February 18 to find a man running out of the garage.

When he went to investigate, he discovered that this stranger had broken the lock to the garage door.

The computer equipment was the only thing missing, he told responding officers, who apprehended 40-year-old Michael Pipitone in connection with the crime after a brief search of the area.

Pipitone was charged with burglary in the third degree, criminal mischief and petit larceny.

Blade boy bust

Cops may have closed the book on an open robbery pattern with the arrest of an 18-year-old area resident.

Prosecutors said that Dady Michel was charged with robbery in the first degree, grand larceny, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property last week in connection with a mugging on January 26.

The robbery was one of three knife-point heists that took place near the corner of Flatlands and Utica avenues at the end of January.

A spokesperson for the Kings County District Attorney’s office alleged that Michel and Kareem Jones grabbed a 13-year-old boy at 9 p.m. on January 26, pulled a knife on him, then fished through his pockets, pulling out his iPhone.

Jones was apprehended for the robbery before Michel, said prosecutors.

As this paper went to press, the two men hadn’t been arrested in connection with the two other robberies in the same area.

Police said that thieves, described only as black males, pulled a knife on a 20-year-old on Utica Avenue and Avenue K at 8:45 p.m. on January 22, robbing him of $73 in cash, some jewelry and his cell phone.

Fifteen minutes later, the thieves re-appeared, robbing a 28-year-old at knifepoint near the corner of Flatlands Avenue and East 49th Street, this time taking $90.

It’s believed that they laid low for a few days before pulling a knife on the 13-year-old on January 26.

No injuries had been reported in any of these crimes, officials said.

Drunk and directionless

Eyebrows were raised in Flatlands this past Valentine’s Day when a Chevy Suburban was seen charging down Avenue L in the wrong direction.

Cops said that they pulled over the Suburban near East 49th Street at 4 a.m. on February 14 only to learn that the driver was allegedly drunk.

The motorist, identified as 25-year-old Javell Williams, was arrested for allegedly operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol after cops determined that he had a blood alcohol content of .101 percent.

This was not the first time that Williams was arrested for drunk driving, police noted. He was arrested for the same charge back in 2004, when he was 20.

Marine Park gunman still sought

Cops are continuing their search for the masked gunman who opened fire on a 47-year-old Marine Park woman as she took her 13-year-old son to school Thursday morning.

A bullet grazed the woman’s head and the gunman ran off, said police, who were still looking for the camouflage-clad triggerman as this paper went to press.

Cops said that the woman and her son had just walked to her car parked near the corner of Quentin Road and Coleman Street at 8 a.m. February 4 when the suspect opened fire.

The woman suffered a graze wound. Her son was startled but otherwise uninjured.

Paramedics rushed the woman to Kings County Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition after treatment.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is urged to come forward.

Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

Stabbed and mugged

Cops are looking for a knife-wielding thug who stabbed and sliced a 17-year-old on Nostrand Avenue during a recent mugging.

Officials said that the teen was walking along Nostrand Avenue between avenues I and J just before 4 p.m. February 9 when an unidentified black male attacked him.

The thief punched the young man in the face then flashed a knife and charged, officials said.

He ultimately ran off with the victim’s cell phone, said police, who added that the victim was ok after treatment.

Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.

Calls can be made to the 63rd Precinct at (718) 258-4411. All calls will be kept confidential.

Cellular pains

A guard at the Joyce Leslie inside the Georgetowne Shopping Mall was left with a slight ringing in his ears after a shoplifter struck him with her cell phone.

Cops were told that the 58-year-old guard was manning the Ralph Avenue store at 7 p.m. February 8 when he noticed the woman taking clothes from store shelves and secreting them amongst her property.

When the woman made a bee-line for the door, the guard intervened.

The woman countered by hitting him with the cell phone and running off, police said.

Help wipe out graffiti

As the ongoing war against graffiti vandalism continues, cops are now offering a $500 reward to anyone with information that can help them arrest neighborhood graffiti vandals.

The hefty reward is part of the city’s ongoing push to rid New York of graffiti; the leading quality of life complaint brought to police.

Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism in their neighborhood is urged to contact either 311 or 911.