Pedophile penned
An alleged pedophile was arrested last week on charges that he sexually assaulted children at two area parks.
Officials said that 61-year-old Michael Martin, a resident of Connecticut, was taken into custody after he allegedly attacked his third victim on the afternoon of April 17.
Police allege that Martin first followed an eight-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy into a public bathroom at Gravesend Park near the corner of 18th Avenue and 57th Street at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
He molested both children and fled the bathroom when the children began to cry, officials alleged.
Martin apparently wandered the area for two hours before he followed another eight-year-old girl into a public bathroom, this time at Digilio Playground at Avenue F and McDonald Avenue, police alleged.
He sexually assaulted the girl until she, too, began crying for help, officials alleged. He then bolted from the bathroom, only to be rounded up and arrested by responding officers who were already searching for the alleged sex abuser.
Police charged Martin with endangering the welfare of a child, one count of committing a criminal sex act and two counts of sexual abuse.
All three children were taken to area hospitals, where they were listed in stable condition after treatment and observation.
Cabbie robbery
Police are looking for two thieves who carjacked a livery cab driver in Plumb Beach recently.
The cabbie, a driver for Belle Harbor Car Service, said that he picked up the two thieves, described as black males, at the Sheepshead Bay Road train station at East 16th Street at 2:45 a.m. on April 12.
The two men said that they needed a lift to their car, which they had parked at the corner of Plumb 3rd Street and Harkness Avenue, officials said.
But when the cabbie took the two men there, one of the suspects pulled a gun and dragged him out of the car.
The thieves then punched the victim in the mouth, leaving him with a cut lip, and ran off with $80 in cash, his cell phone and his 2000 livery cab.
Cops were still looking for the thieves as this paper went to press.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call the 61st Precinct at (718) 627-6611. All calls will be kept confidential.
Four nabbed for burglary
A conniving quartet was rounded up and arrested in connection with a burglary at Madison Physical Therapy, 1514 Voorhies Avenue, last week.
Police said that 30-year-old Cornelius Gadsden, 18-year-old Angel Pagan, 17-year-old Ryan Rosario and 18-year-old Gissette Castillo were all taken into custody moments after the robbery, which took place around 12:30 a.m. on April 16.
Officials allege that Gadsden entered the medical office by crawling through a window as the other three suspects looked out for police.
The thieves, however, didn’t see a witness who called 911.
Cops responded and took the foursome into custody without incident.
Gadsen allegedly had a laptop computer and 87 Xanax pills on him when he was taken into custody, officials said.
Kicked out of PSP
A 13-year-old boy was kicked in the back as a 15-year-old thug robbed him of his PlayStation Portable game recently, officials allege.
Police were told that the victim was passing the corner of Bath and 24th avenues at 3:30 p.m. on April 11 when the thief, who was wearing a red bandanna at the time, grabbed the PSP out of his hands.
The suspect then kicked his victim, leaving him with injuries to his back and knees, officials said.
Cops were still searching for the thief as this paper went to press.
Cell snatch
Cops are looking for four thieving females responsible for a recent roll-by robbery in Bensonhurst.
A 24-year-old woman told police that she was walking down 25th Avenue between 87th and 88th Streets at 11:15 a.m. on April 10 when an unidentified car rolled up to her.
Four women exited the car, grabbed the cell phone from her hand, jumped back into the car and sped off, officials said.
Cops were still looking for the thieves as this paper went to press.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 62nd Precinct at (718) 627-6611. All calls will be kept confidential.
Thug couple busted
A thieving couple has been arrested in connection with a robbery at a Bensonhurst park.
Officials alleged that Lauren Croce, 18, and William Rivera, 19, were both charged with robbery for the April 10 robbery at 17th Avenue and 17th Court.
Their victims, another young couple, said that they were in the park at 9 p.m. that night when Croce and Rivera allegedly walked up to them.
Rivera demanded that the male victim give up his sunglasses and cell phone, officials alleged. When the victim refused, Croce allegedly slapped him in the face and took the property from him.
That’s when the female victim piped up, claiming that she owned the cell phone and that Croce couldn’t take it.
Croce allegedly punched and pulled the young woman’s hair as Rivera stood back, telling stunned witnesses to “mind their own business.”
Cops from the 62nd Precinct charged both suspects with robbery following a short investigation.
Mandarin menace
A knife-wielding thief who speaks Mandarin is being sought for robbing a 14th Avenue store recently.
Police said that the thief entered the store, located near 67th Street, just before 4 p.m. on April 8 and pulled a steak knife on a worker, demanding the money from the register in Mandarin.
When the worker handed over $250 from the till, the thief screamed, “That’s it?” before ordering the woman to sit on the floor as he left in an awaiting mini-van.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call the 62nd Precinct at (718) 236-2611. All calls will be kept confidential.
Doing much harm
Cops are searching for a burglar who busted his way into a Sheepshead Bay doctor’s office, where he stole a number of confidential files.
Officials said that the thief entered the office, located at 2966 Ocean Avenue, sometime between 5 p.m. on April 12 and 9 a.m. the following morning.
Workers said that several patient files were accessed from the office computer. A number of vaccines, as well as a hands-free phone receiver, were also stolen, cops were told.
Police are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call the 61st Precinct at (718) 627-6611. All calls will be kept confidential.
Bruising at Boom
Here’s a place where the name says it all.
Police from the 61st Precinct said that they were called to Boom, located at 2424 Coney Island Avenue at Avenue U, after a 27-year-old man was beaten with a piece of wood that had a nail sticking out of it.
Police said that cops were called to the night spot at 4 a.m. on April 20, where they found the victim suffering from a deep cut across the left side of his face.
Paramedics took him to Coney Island Hospital for treatment.
Responding officers apprehended 20-year-old Trimouraz Tchavtchanodze for allegedly hitting the victim, charging him with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and menacing.
It was unclear what sparked the fight as this paper went to press.
Caught in the act
A would-be graffiti tagger was arrested Sunday after he was allegedly caught rifling through a car parked on the corner of Bragg Street and Avenue U, officials said.
Cops from the 61st Precinct said that Richard Florio, 17, was found standing next to a Toyota with its car alarm blaring just after 2:45 a.m. on April 20.
Passing officers hearing the alarm stopped Florio, allegedly finding a graffiti instrument on him as well as a cell phone that the owner of the Toyota claimed was his.
Police charged Florio with criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny and possession of a graffiti instrument.
Marine Park raid
A pair of gunmen burst into a Marine Park resident’s home recently, taking $1700 in cash, a cell phone and some jewelry, officials said.
Cops from the 63rd Precinct said that the thieves, described only as black males, forced open the side door of the East 52nd Street home near Fillmore Avenue at 2:40 a.m. on April 10 and scrambled up to the second floor, where they pulled a gun on the 26-year-old resident.
The thieves robbed him of his property and ran out of the home, leaving him unharmed, officials said.
Investigators were looking for the two thieves as this paper went to press.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call the 63rd Precinct at (718) 258-4411. All calls will be kept confidential.
Dollar van dangers
A 16-year-old had his cell phone plucked from his backpack as he rode a dollar van past the corner of Utica and Flatlands avenues, officials said.
The victim said that he was sitting in the van at 2 p.m. on April 13 when someone snaked his hand into his backpack, taking his phone.
He didn’t realize what had happened until he had reached his destination, cops were told.
