Welcome to Canarsie
Two neighborhood visitors spent a portion of their stay in the hospital after they were fired upon, cops from the 69th Precinct said this week.
Police were told that the victims, both 19 years old, were walking outside the Breukelen Houses near East 105th Street at 12:30 a.m. July 15 when a phantom gunman started shooting at them.
One of the victims suffered a graze wound to the leg, officials said. The other was hit in the thigh.
Police estimated that a total of four shots were fired.
Cops were trying to track down the gunman as this paper went to press.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward.
Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Mugger nab
Cops from the 69th Precinct nabbed a 32-year-old thief responsible for a knife-point hold up on Foster Avenue near East 82nd Street, officials said this week.
Police said that Jeffrey Rivera allegedly pointed a knife at another male at 3:15 a.m. on July 18 and threatened to kill him if he didn’t fork over everything in his pockets.
Rivera robbed his victim of some cash and ran off, but was soon in police custody, charged with robbery, menacing, grand larceny, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon.
Revenge against grocer
A clerk at a neighborhood grocery store was arrested last week for allegedly breaking the arm of a brawler as he tried to stop a knife fight inside his store.
Officials said that Wagdi Gabbar, 19, was manning the counter of the East 80th Street store near Glenwood Road on the night of July 5 when a customer and another man started fighting.
Gabbar allegedly tried to break up the fight, but the 25-year-old customer increased the tension level by pulling a knife.
The clerk responded by grabbing a baseball bat, which shattered the victim’s arms during the three-way tussle.
Nearly two weeks later, cops approached Gabbar and charged him with assault and menacing, officials said.
He got his
A 33-year-old area man was arrested on menacing charges last weekend after he pulled a knife on someone.
Police said that Kareem George was arguing with another man on Avenue D near East 89th Street at 2:30 a.m. on July 20 when he allegedly pulled out his gravity knife.
As he waved the knife around, he said that his opponent was going to “Get his,” according to a complaint filed with the Kings County District Attorney’s office.
But the only thing the victim got was his phone, which he used to call authorities, who took George under arrest without incident, officials said.
Celled over tire caps
Cops apprehended a 47-year-old man last week after he was caught trying to steal a set of tire rims from a Ralph Avenue auto repair shop, officials said.
Officials said that workers at the shop, located near Flatlands Avenue, said that they secured all the gates on the night of July 19.
When they opened the gates the next morning, they allegedly found Jose Rodriguez inside, with two car rims in his hands.
Rodriguez was taken into custody without incident and charged with criminal trespass, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Shooter search
Cops are still looking for the gun-toting thug who opened up on an area resident as he exited a deli in a small shopping plaza near the corner of East 107th Street and Flatlands Avenue, officials said.
Police said that the victim had just stepped out of the deli at 1 p.m. on July 10 when he was shot twice in the legs.
He was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition following treatment.
Cops charged the victim with criminal possession of a controlled substance when an undetermined amount of drugs were found on him, sources said.
As this paper went to press, cops were still looking for the shooter.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact the 69th Precinct’s detective squad at (718) 257-6315. All calls will be kept confidential.
More gun violence
Just 14 hours before the above incident, another man was shot, this time near the corner of East 84th Street and Avenue L.
Cops were called to the corner at 11 p.m. on July 9 after the man was found bleeding. He had been shot four times in the legs and was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he has since been treated and released.
Investigators said that the shooting was sparked during a dispute between the victim and another man, but wouldn’t elaborate further.
Police are continuing their search for the shooter as this paper went to press.
Help wipe out graffiti
As the ongoing war against graffiti vandalism continues, cops are now offering up to $500 in reward money to anyone who can offer them information that can lead them to graffiti vandals.
The hefty reward is part of the city’s new push to rid New York of graffiti vandals.
Graffiti is one of the leading quality of life complaints brought to police.
Officials said that cleaning up graffiti is essential to the plan, to show that the community is no longer going to tolerate marred and tagged-up walls and street corners.
According to police, there is a perception that if a community will tolerate graffiti, they will tolerate other criminal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution.
Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911.
Murdered on Nostrand
A 31-year-old man was killed early Monday following a shooting at the corner of Nostrand Avenue and Midwood Street, area cops said.
Police said that the unnamed victim was found shot in the chest at the corner just before 2 a.m. on July 21.
Responding paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Cops were looking for the shooter as this paper went to press.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward.
Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Gone too soon
Police have arrested a 19-year-old East Flatbush resident in connection with a hit-and-run accident that ended the life of an 11-year-old boy.
Investigators were told that little Rondell Grant was crossing East 42nd Street between Foster Avenue and Avenue D just before 1:30 a.m. on July 19 when he was struck down by one of three cars charging down the street.
Responding paramedics rushed the child to Kings County Hospital, where he died of his injuries, officials said.
By the next afternoon, cops had arrested Naquan Mandry, a resident of Linden Boulevard, in connection with the child’s death. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in someone’s death.
E. 37 St. murder mystery
Cops are reportedly close to an arrest in last week’s double shooting in East Flatbush.
Officials said that cops were called to East 37th Street near Church Avenue just before 1 a.m. on July 17, where they found a 25-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman suffering from gunshot wounds to the body.
They were both taken to Kings County Hospital where the young man died of his wounds. The female victim was listed in stable condition after treatment.
Sources close to the investigation said Friday that they were close to apprehending the shooter, who has reportedly been identified.
The arrest hadn’t taken place since this paper went to press.
Bogus cop buyout
A 56-year-old charlatan pretending to be a federal officer with ties to the 67th Precinct found himself behind bars when real cops shined a light on his money scam.
Kings County prosecutors allege that Theodore Smith had been slowly bilking an East Flatbush woman of thousands of dollars since June 13.
Officials claimed that Smith told the woman that he was a federal officer who worked out of the 67th Precinct and that he could get her an impounded car at a low cost.
He told the woman that if she deposited money into a Visa debit card at an area bank, he would use the money to get her an impounded vehicle.
But he didn’t, police said. Instead, Smith transferred the money to his own account.
When the outraged woman brought the case to the authorities, they learned that Smith wasn’t a federal officer. Nor did he have any ties to the 67th Precinct.
Not yet, anyway.
On July 20, cops took him there to book him on charges of petit larceny, grand larceny and criminal impersonation, officials said.
Caton attack
An area man was stabbed in the chest during a Saturday afternoon scuffle with two others on Caton Avenue, officials said.
Prosecutors said that cops from the 70th Precinct have apprehended one of the two attackers for the July 19 stabbing. His accomplice was still at large as this paper went to press.
The victim said that he was on Caton Avenue near Flatbush Avenue at 5:45 p.m. when the two suspects jumped him.
One of the men handed his accomplice a knife, which was used to slash open the victim’s chest, officials said.
The victim was rushed to an area hospital where he was treated and released.
Police said that Yimel Young, 18, was apprehended shortly after the slashing and charged with assault, menacing, harassment and criminal possession of a weapon.
Church Ave. devil
An area woman was arrested on assault charges last week after she attacked another woman on Church Avenue near East 57th Street.
Cops were told that 47-year-old Andrea Clarke was arguing with her victim at 10:30 a.m. on July 21 when she allegedly punched her in the face, breaking the other woman’s glasses in the process.
Responding officers took Clarke into custody without incident, charging her with assault, menacing, harassment and criminal mischief, prosecutors said.
Killed on the 4th
Police are continuing their search for the man who gunned down a 38-year-old man near the corner of Church Avenue and East 17th Street as residents throughout the borough began their Independence Day festivities, officials said.
Police said that the victim, identified as Nostrand Avenue resident Kent Gonzalez, was shot repeatedly during an exchange with an unidentified gunman sometime before 6:30 a.m. on July 4.
Despite his wounds, friends managed to get Gonzalez to Kings County Hospital, where doctors alerted police of the incident.
Police were told that the shooting took place somewhere in the area near East 17th Street and Church Avenue, but they weren’t sure exactly where.
Gonzalez, officials said, died of his wounds a few hours later.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this shooting to come forward.
Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Help wipe out graffiti
As the ongoing war against graffiti vandalism continues, cops are now offering up to $500 in reward money to anyone who can offer them information that can lead them to graffiti vandals.
The hefty reward is part of the city’s new push to rid New York of graffiti vandals.
Graffiti is one of the leading quality of life complaints brought to police.
Officials said that cleaning up graffiti is essential to the plan, to show that the community is no longer going to tolerate marred and tagged-up walls and street corners.
According to police, there is a perception that if a community will tolerate graffiti, they will tolerate other criminal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution.
Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911.
