N.Y.P.D. The suspect in a Sept. 20 punch-and-
grab.

Last Tuesday’s gunpoint robbery wasn’t just an isolated occurrence. The early-morning incident in which three men in bandanas held up a woman at gunpoint was part of an emerging pattern, said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann at a meeting of the Ninth Precinct Community Council last night.

The robbery on East 12th Street, between First Avenue and Avenue A, followed a similar incident two days earlier, on Sunday, Oct. 7. The earlier victim, also robbed at gunpoint by three men, didn’t report it until Tuesday morning, according to the precinct’s commanding officer.

Deputy Inspector Cappelmann assured meeting attendees that police are investigating and a dedicated patrol force would be in the area on Friday and Saturday. Read more…

Annie Fairman Aida Salgado (front, center) lit candles with friends and family in rememberance of her late son.

At a memorial service Sunday, Aida Salgado recalled the early morning, on Oct. 16, that her son was shot in the courtyard of the Campos Plaza housing development, and the year that has followed. “My world came crashing down, and I was engulfed in a wrenching pain that only can be felt by another parent who has lost a child,” she told friends and family members gathered at Firemen’s Memorial Garden on Eighth Street.

Stephanie Federico, who wore a t-shirt depicting Donovan “Keith” Salgado, said she had expected the 17-year-old’s tragic death to put a damper on youth violence in the neighborhood. “People felt as though maybe it was gonna be over after he passed,” she told the gathering of about a couple dozen people. “But a lot of things didn’t end. It actually made things a lot worse.”

Another attendee left little doubt about the matter: Maizie Arroyo, a longtime resident of the East Village who recently moved to the Bronx, said that on the subway ride to the memorial, a group of young men tried to “jump” one of her teenage companions because he was wearing a laminated photo of Mr. Salgado around his neck. Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

The Valley National Bank on Fourth Avenue was held up around 12:30 p.m. today.

A man thought to be around 50 years of age, wearing a jean jacket and with grey-blonde hair, walked into the bank at 111 Fourth Avenue, near 12th Street, and left with an unknown amount of money, according to one of the responding officers, Alan Tagliamonti. “The suspect fled immediately,” he said. Investigators were still trying to determine the amount stolen when The Local arrived on the scene around 1:30 p.m.

A woman was robbed at gunpoint early this morning.

Chilling screams were heard near East 12th Street and Avenue A around 3 a.m.

The commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, confirmed that a woman was held up at gunpoint by three men.

Though neighbors were awakened to a cry of “rape,” no formal allegations of sexual assault were made, said Deputy Inspector Cappelmann. The victim was sobbing as she told officers who responded to the incident, “I have nothing; he took everything.” She was unable to give a detailed description of her attackers, according to the commanding officer. No arrests have been made in the case.

N.Y.P.D.

The police are seeking to question Joshua Nunez, 21, in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred Saturday night outside of a Lower East Side barber shop.

NoLIta resident Charles Fernandez was attacked outside of the Jose Beauty Salon and Barber Shop at 110 Forsyth Street, around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night. He was shot in the torso and taken by private means to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The shooting was just one of several weekend incidents in the area. In addition to an alleged rape in Tompkins Square Park and a fatal slashing near Union Square, a man was stabbed Saturday night in the subway station at West 14th Street and Seventh Avenue, according to Gothamist. The 28-year-old victim was in stable condition after the attack, per the Post.

Michael Jones New York Red Bulls

The police have released new video of the man they say stabbed 25-year-old Michael Jones to death near Union Square early Sunday morning.

The Times reports that detectives are reviewing surveillance footage that shows Mr. Jones walking down West 14th Street with his attacker shortly before he was stabbed in the neck and torso (his ear was also cut off). According to The Post, he had been bar-hopping earlier in the evening, and called his girlfriend around 4:17 a.m., shortly before the assault.

Mr. Jones – a Liverpool native, per the Daily News – was in his fifth year as a coach at the New York Red Bulls Academy, a youth training program. (He is not to be confused with former Red Bulls defender Mike Jones.) The soccer team released a statement describing him as “a tremendous individual, a fantastic coach who loved soccer and a terrific friend for many of us.”

A man was fatally shot on the Lower East Side last night and another was stabbed to death near Union Square early this morning.

Shortly before 4:24 a.m. today, a man was assaulted in front of 25 West 14th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the police said. The victim, 25, was stabbed in the torso and neck. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital.

No arrests have been made, the police said. The Post has some gruesome details about the crime scene.

Investigators are also searching for suspects in the shooting of a man outside of a barber shop at 110 Forsyth Street last night. Witnesses told The Lo-Down that an argument at Jose Beauty Salon and Barber Shop spilled out onto the street.

Update | 3 p.m. The police have now identified the victim of this morning’s stabbing as 25-year-old Michael Jones of Hasbrouck Heights. The investigation is still ongoing.

Update | 7:45 p.m. The victim of last night’s shooting has been identified as Charles Fernandez, a NoLIta resident. The police said he was shot in the torso and pronounced dead on arrival at Bellevue Hospital. He was 29, not 32 as first reported by The Lo-Down. Also, the police now say that this morning’s shooting victim was a resident of West Harrison, N.Y., not Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. as they originally reported. The suspect in that homicide, thought to be between 25 and 30, appears in the video above.

Update | Oct. 8, 7:20 p.m.
Here’s the Guy Police Are Looking For After Lower East Side Shooting
New Video of Union Square Stabbing Suspect

Daniel Maurer The entrance to the park last night.

Daniel Maurer Police tape in the park.

A man was arrested last night after a woman said she was raped in Tompkins Square Park.

The police said that around 10 p.m., a woman who had been sleeping in the park said she was awoken to a man raping her. She ran to a nearby store for help. The police searched the area and arrested an individual who fit her description, and are currently trying to determine whether the woman’s allegations are truthful.

Last night, shortly after midnight, an area inside of the park, near Avenue B and East Eighth Street, was cordoned off by police tape.

Update | 8:50 p.m. The Daily News reports that the suspect is a 27-year-old homeless man, Ruben Canales.

Suzanne Rozdeba

As State Senator Daniel Squadron called for tougher gun laws at a press conference at Campos Plaza today, new information emerged about a shooting outside of The Central Bar on Sunday. Some believe the incident was tied to ongoing beef between certain residents of Campos Plaza in the East Village and their rivals in the Baruch Houses, on the Lower East Side.

Norris Barrino, 55, told The Local that his son, 26-year-old LeRon, was the organizer of an open-mic event at the sports pub where a fight broke out at around 10:40 p.m. Everything was fine, said Mr. Barrino, until “some gang members weeded in.”

Mr. Barrino was at Central Bar early in the night and heard an account of later events from his son, who did not respond to The Local’s request for comment earlier this week. According to Mr. Barrino, the trouble started with a rap about the killing of Donovan “Keith” Salgado, almost a year ago. “There was a comment made about a woman whose son was killed here,” said Mr. Barrino this morning at Campos Plaza. “One of the guys knew that some of the guys who were involved with that were there. He got up and rapped about him. He said, ‘The guys who killed Keith are here.’ That’s what started the whole thing.” Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba

The young man who was shot in the leg at Campos Plaza has come forward to identify himself and to describe the horror of being stalked by a gunman in the early hours of Monday morning.

David Cruz, 24, told The Local that he and a friend were walking back to his apartment on East 13th Street, between Avenues B and C, shortly after midnight when he noticed “a navy blue or black car creeping,” and then saw it double parked. “We looked towards the car, and I noticed somebody jump out the car with an all-black hoodie on, covering his face,” he said.

The man quickly approached. “He started to run towards me and my friend. We ran towards East 12th Street, when he shot the first fire at me. My friend proceeded to run towards the basketball court and I proceeded to run towards the 635 East 12th Street tunnel when he shot the second fire that hit me.” The shooter wordlessly fired another two or three rounds that missed their target, said Mr. Cruz.

“When I got shot, it went in through the back of my thigh, and the bullet left the front of my thigh,” he said. “It was half an inch away from my artery and about an inch away from the main bone on my thigh.” Read more…

Daniel Maurer Police vehicles at the corner of Avenue C and East 12th.

A man was shot in the leg around 12:20 a.m. this morning near the corner of East 11th Street and Avenue C, the police said. He was taken to Beth Israel Hospital in stable condition and was not thought likely to die.

The police couldn’t confirm the victim’s age or the circumstances of the shooting, and said that no arrests were made.

Though a police spokesperson said the shooting occurred near East 11th Street, investigators were seen early this morning at the corner of East 12th Street and Avenue C, outside of Campos Plaza I. A section of the public housing complex’s courtyard was taped off.

The shooting came a few hours after police received a report of shots fired at 115 East Ninth Street, near Third Avenue. Read more…

Dana Varinsky Dereese Huff with a hammer she carries for protection.

Elected officials blasted the New York City Housing Authority this afternoon for not being quick enough to make security upgrades, citing a recent study that indicates many public housing residents don’t feel safe in their own homes. Meanwhile, the authority pointed the finger right back at local politicians.

In July and August, the offices of Borough President Scott M. Stringer, State Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh polled 520 residents at ten public housing developments, including Campos I, Jacob Riis Houses I and II, and the Lilian Wald Houses in the East Village, as well as seven others on the Lower East Side.

According to the report, which can be read below, more than 40 percent of survey respondents said they felt unsafe in staircases; only 45 percent indicated they have lobby doors with working locks; only 49 percent said their building had a working intercom; and 65 percent said not enough is done to prevent trespassing.

“The bottom line here is that even the most basic security is not happening at N.Y.C.H.A.,” Mr. Stringer said today at Seward Park Extension, later adding, “It’s time to fix the damn doors.” Read more…

NYPD

A man punched and robbed a woman on the Lower East Side, the police said.

Around 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday, the man followed his 25-year-old victim into 50 Allen Street, where he twice punched her in the face and then swiped her purse, according to the police.

The suspect, thought to be between the age of 35 and 40, was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers, as shown in this surveillance camera footage. He’s wanted for robbery.

A tabernacle above the side altar was vandalized.

Vandals broke into Mary Help of Christians over the weekend, though the church’s precious relics had been moved out earlier in the week.

“There was vandalism at the church, but we don’t know exactly what happened,” said a secretary speaking on behalf of John Matcovich, parish manager at Immaculate Conception. “There was nothing major stolen. We don’t know anything more than that.”

Mr. Matcovich confirmed that the marble around the main tabernacle was smashed, a smaller tabernacle above the side altar was also damaged, and a hole was punched through the wall in the sacristy, a room where sacred vessels and vestments are normally stored. A church tabernacle is a fixed box where the Eucharist is kept. Read more…

N.Y.P.D. The suspect.

The police are on the hunt for a woman who stole a purse from Arlene’s Grocery on August 7.

The suspect allegedly swiped the bag hanging below a bar inside the music venue at 12:50 a.m. Police said the bag contained a cell phone, wallet, cash and credit cards.

N.Y.P.D. The suspect.

The police department has released a surveillance image of the suspect in Saturday’s bank robbery.

The suspect passed a note to a teller at the Chase Bank on Second Avenue near East 10th Street at 12:40 p.m., the police said. The teller then forked over a wad of cash, and the robber made a run for it, toting a black Pullman suitcase.

He is thought to be in his 20s or 30s, 200 pounds and five-foot-10.

The New York Times

The police have identified the woman who died from a cut across the neck this morning as Carlisle Brigham.

The Wall Street Journal cites a police source who said the victim was estranged from her husband.

Her roommate at 191 Orchard Street, where she was found in partial cardiac arrest, told investigators he spoke with her this morning and she sounded “distraught,” according to the paper.

The Lo-Down reports that the victim’s husband or boyfriend is currently being interview by investigators.

Last year, The Times published a wedding announcement regarding Carlisle Vose Brigham and Anthony Lindley Champalimaud. It noted that Ms. Brigham’s father was the chairman of an investment bank in St. Louis, and that he served as president of the New York City Public Development Corporation and the city budget director in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mr. Champalimaud was a vice president for a Malaysian hotel conglomerate.

Update | 9 a.m. According to The Times and The Post, Ms. Brigham’s death may have been the result of a fall. The investigation is ongoing, but the headline of this post has been changed in light of the fact that the police do not currently believe there was a slashing involved. 

Stephen Rex Brown A distraught man was interviewed by police at 191 Orchard Street.

A 29-year-old woman was slashed across the neck and died this morning.

A police spokeswoman confirmed that the victim was declared dead at Beth Israel Hospital about 10 minutes ago. She was found around 10:33 a.m. “heavily bleeding” from the neck and in partial cardiac arrest inside of 191 Orchard Street near East Houston Street.

Further details regarding how she died or if there are any suspects were not immediately available. A distraught man, pictured above, was seen speaking at length to investigators a half-hour after the incident.

Update | 12:52 p.m. A resident of the building who did not wish to be identified came upon the victim moments after a neighbor attempted to revive her in the hallway. “It was a big mess. There was blood everywhere,” the resident said.

According to the resident, a medic said the victim’s injuries were not consistent with a fall down the stairs, as some initially suspected. “She had compound fractures in her arm and she was cut,” the resident said. The victim, who was wearing acid-wash blue jeans, had a Missouri drivers license in her wallet, which also still contained money, credit cards and an iPhone.

“She did not look like she was homeless or a hooker,” the resident said. “She had too many accouterments of the average American young person in her 20s: An iPhone and wallet full of plastic.”

The longtime resident added that it was unlikely the victim lived in the building.

“It’s pretty upsetting. I almost threw up.”

Update | 5:20 p.m. Lower East Side Slashing Victim Identified

A man robbed the Chase bank on Second Avenue near 10th Street this afternoon.

Around 1 p.m., a man passed a teller a note demanding money and then fled with an unknown amount, according to the police.

The suspect, who wore sunglasses and black and yellow sneakers, was said to be about five-foot-eight with a medium build.

It’s the first bank robbery in the neighborhood since the Emigrant Savings Bank, just a few blocks away, was held up in June.