Two killed in crash
A boozed-up Sheepshead Bay motorist was charged with vehicular manslaughter after his actions behind the wheel led to the deaths of two women.
Officials said that the victims, ages 24 ad 33, were riding in the back of a 1996 Infiniti at 3:30 a.m. on January 10 when driver Oleg Pantchenko, a resident of Avenue Z, lost control of the wheel.
Horrified witnesses said that the vehicle hit a guardrail on the eastbound Belt Parkway near Fourth Avenue and 80th Street, and careened across three lanes of traffic, striking several cars as they passed.
The Infiniti ultimately came to a stop when it slammed into the middle median. The force of the impact was so severe that the two young women were ejected from the car, officials said.
The women died at the scene, said police. A woman in the front seat was taken to Lutheran Medical Center where she was listed in stable condition after treatment.
Pantchenko, who managed to escape any serious injury, was taken into custody once police learned that he had allegedly been drinking before the accident.
Bogus cop robbery
Police are looking for two men who robbed a 21-year-old woman while masquerading as police officers.
Officials said that the victim was sitting inside her vehicle near the corner of Benson and 20th avenues at 2:40 p.m. on January 5 when the two thieves, white males in their mid-forties, approached.
The suspects flashed a shield, informing her that her car’s registration had expired.
When the woman reached into her purse to get her ID, the thieves grabbed her bag and ran off with it.
No injuries were reported.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward. Calls can be made to the 62nd Precinct at (718) 236-2611. All calls will be kept confidential.
Tracked and robbed
A thief followed a motorist from Sheepshead Bay to Bay Ridge so he could swipe a cell phone he felt he was owed from the man’s car, officials alleged.
Police allege that the victim was waiting for the light to change at 65th Street and 4th Avenue — just down the block from the 68th Precinct — at 10 p.m. on January 7 when Hasnanin Hamid, 21, pulled open the passenger side door and threatened him with a knife.
Hamid allegedly grabbed the victim’s cell phone and ran off, only to resurface in Sheepshead Bay near the corner of Coney Island Avenue and Avenue Z.
When he was taken into custody, Hamid allegedly claimed that he had lent the victim had owed him money.
He freely told police that he had lent the victim — who worked in a cell phone store — $100 so he could “help with my cell phone bill.”
Hamid alleged that he had given the victim another $150 for a new phone, but he never received it. After repeated attempts to get his money back, Hamid saw the victim driving around Sheepshead Bay.
He allegedly followed his victim along the Belt Parkway to Bay Ridge, when he finally decided to take action.
“I jumped out of the car and opened the passenger side of his car and said, ‘Give me the money you owe me,’” he told police, according to a complaint filed with the Kings County District Attorney’s office. “The phone was in the center console of the car. I opened it, took the phone and got back in my car and left.”
Hamid denied threatening the victim with a knife. Cops charged him with robbery in the first degree, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property.
Coney mug arrest
Cops have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with a September robbery in Coney Island.
Police alleged that Mubarak Abdulaziz and another man tackled a third male on West 33rd Street near Mermaid Avenue at 11 p.m. on September 3.
Abdulaziz and his partner allegedly punched and kicked the victim as they robbed him of $240 and a gold chain, officials said. The victim suffered bruised ribs, bloody nose and a swollen face as a result.
The suspects also pulled knives and threatened to kill their victim, police alleged, as they charged Abdulaziz with robbery in the first degree, assault, grand larceny and criminal possession of a weapon.
Carrier clobber
Cops were called to West 5th Street last week after two residents began fighting each other over the daily mail drop.
Police said that the neighbors, ages 34 and 53, were arguing over who the delivered mail belonged to when the older man bit his younger opponent. The older man, in kind, grabbed a knife and jabbed at the victim, slicing open his chest.
Both men were taken into custody without incident. Each were charged with assault and menacing.
Clean getaway
Cops are looking for a crew of car-jackers who made off with a 51-year-old’s vehicle while he was cleaning it.
The motorist told police that he was tending to his car at a gas station on 65th Street near Dahill Road at 4:15 a.m. on December 28 when the six suspects approached.
Five of the thugs attacked the victim while the sixth jumped behind the wheel and sped off with the vehicle, police said.
Cops were still searching for the thieves as this paper went to press.
Purse snag
Cops are looking for a female purse snatcher who bowled over a 62-year-old woman at the corner of 21st and Benson avenues last week.
The victim told police that she was walking toward the intersection at 6:30 p.m. on December 30 when a woman in a fur trimmed coat grabbed her from behind and pushed her to the ground.
The woman tried to get the 62-year-old’s bag, but ended up running off empty-handed when the victim put up a fight, police said.
Cops were still looking for the purse snatching princess as this paper went to press.
Crooks targeting crooks
Talk about the “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”
A crew of gun-toting thugs ended up accidentally shooting each other during a daring heist at a Bensonhurst jewelry store last week.
Police said that the three suspects, described as black males in their 20s, entered Benz Jewelers, 2039 86th Street, at 1 p.m. on December 29 and flashed their weapons.
They then began barking orders, demanding that workers hand over all the cash and jewelry.
What they didn’t expect was their prey’s pluck, however.
When one of the victims began struggling with the would-be ringleader, the man shot off a round – right at his partner, police said.
“I’m hit!” the wounded man screamed before all three scrambled out of the store.
The panicked perpetrators did have the wherewithal to run off with some of the jewels and the money, said police, who were still looking for the three suspects as this paper went to press.
Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts is urged to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 62nd Precinct at (718) 236-2611. All calls will be kept confidential.
Time for a rewind
Detectives are hoping that a pair of pricey watches can help them find the men responsible for a Brighton Beach slaying that transpired last spring.
Officials said that Brighton Beach Avenue businessman Vlad Tolstykh had just pulled his car into a parking garage on Brighton 11th Street at 2:30 p.m. on March 13 when he was attacked by two males wearing hoods.
The thieves received two expensive-looking watches and an undisclosed amount of money as they beat Tolstykh to death, officials said.
Armed with photos of the watches, as well as a video of the thugs as they ran out of the parking garage, cops from the 60th Precinct are renewing their investigation into the homicide.
Investigators initially believed that the two suspects knew that Tolstykh had money on him, since the neighborhood merchant would make a bank run at that time of the day.
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.
