Melvin Felix Officers loaded a dog kennel into the trunk of a
police car as friends of the
owner of the dead pitbull looked on.

A police officer shot a pitbull that was apparently trying to defend its passed-out owner on 14th Street at around 4:15 p.m., horrifying passersby who watched the wounded mutt suffer a slow death.

A man who identified himself as Steve-o, who was lingering at the scene near Second Avenue said he was a friend of the passed-out man, known as Pollock. The dog, according to Steve-o, was named Star.

Another witness, Roland Bueler, said the dog was protecting his master as a police officer tried unsuccessfully to rouse him while an ambulance awaited. “People who live in the neighborhood say he’s along here all the time,” Mr. Bueler said of Pollock. “He had a dog that was, I think, a pitbull mix. And the dog was defending the guy so no one could approach him.” Read more…

The police are now offering $32,000 for information that leads them to the man who shot a police officer in the Seward Park Houses on July 5. In the incident, Officer Brian Groves was patrolling the public houses when he came upon the suspect between the 18th and 19th floors. A brief chase ensued, and the suspect shot the officer, who narrowly escaped death thanks to his Kevlar vest.

An East Villager’s surveillance camera caught a gloved burglar snooping around inside his apartment on August 6.

The police said that the burglar entered the abode at 516 East 11th Street at 3:35 p.m. and stole “some personal items.”

A police spokesman did not have further information on what type of video camera captured the suspect, or what valuables he swiped. But the camera sure did get a good look at him.

A man sexually assaulted a woman on a rooftop near Clinton Street in the Lower East Side on August 3, the police said. The pair entered the building together at 2:50 a.m. and then the suspect, who is said to be 5-foot-5 and in his early 20s, assaulted the victim and fled. Just yesterday, the Manhattan District Attorney announced the conviction of a 39-year-old man who was linked to a sexual assault in the East Village in 2008 thanks to a state DNA database.

Mohammed Rahman, the Bangladeshi man clocked in the face and threatened by a pair of troublemakers, was back at work today at Astor Place serving lamb gyros, chicken over rice and the like. So, did the police get that guy who threw the punch? “It’s foolishness,” Mr. Rahman said. “I told the police, ‘He’s right there!’ One block away. They’re slow. They said call 911 if he comes back.” Since the incident on Thursday, which was followed by a threat to burn his food cart to the ground, Mr. Rahman has seen his attacker around. Fortunately, it seemed the man had cooled off.

A 2008 cold case involving an East Village woman sexually assaulted in her apartment resulted in the conviction of a man already behind bars for a similar attack, the Manhattan District Attorney announced today.

George Poirier, 39, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sexually motivated burglary and sexual abuse in the first degree. In April of 2008 the 28-year-old victim was entering her apartment on East Seventh Street near Avenue B when the Bronx resident pushed her inside, locked the door, and sexually assaulted her. During the attack the victim bit Mr. Poirier’s arm, drawing blood that was subsequently entered into a state DNA database. At the time, the DNA did not yield any matches, and the case went dormant.

But one year later Mr. Poirier’s DNA was entered into the database as part of his conviction for a charge of sexual abuse tied to a string of groping attacks on four different women on a single day in May, according to a criminal complaint. He was then tied to the 2008 attack. Read more…

The police arrested an East Houston Street man yesterday and charged him with four counts of robbery related to the string of 16 stick-ups near the East River since May. Dion Whitehead, a 38-year-old resident of the Lillian Wald Houses, had previously been arrested for attempted murder, according to The Post. In the robberies the suspect would brandish a weapon or pretend he had one, then grab his victims’ belongings, the police said. None of the victims were hurt. The Daily News reported that investigators were led to Mr. Whitehead after a tipster recognized him in subway surveillance images.

Stephen Rex Brown Mohammed Rahman, moments after being punched.

It was a hellacious start to the day for Mohammed Rahman, a Bangladeshi man who serves gyros, lamb over rice and the like from his cart at Astor Place.

At around 12:15 p.m. a shoeless woman flipped out at him, yelling that Mr. Rahman was “making me wait so long for my damn food.” She then tossed a handful of the cart’s water bottles behind her, nearly striking a man in a suit walking by the Chase Bank. “Whoa! Take it easy!” he said.

The woman, who looked to be in her early 20s, walked off toward St. Marks Place. But the trouble was only beginning.

Three other men, who were apparently with the woman, were still lingering around the food cart, berating Mr. Rahman. The vendor, who has been in the U.S. for two and a half years, stepped out of his cart to call the police. While he spoke on the phone, one of the men, wearing all black and carrying a backpack, clocked Mr. Rahman in the jaw. Read more…

Stephen Rex Brown The suspect in a long string of robberies.

The police are on the hunt for a suspect in a string of at least 16 robberies, half of which were in the East Village.

In all the cases, which take place near the East River, the perpetrator either flashed a knife or gun, or simulated one. He then attempted to take his victims’ property — common items include cellphones and wallets — and usually succeeded. None of the victims were hurt.

In the first four incidents in early May the suspect robbed victims in elevators in Campos Plaza and the Lillian Wald Houses, the police said. Only in the last incident on May 15 did he actually flash a weapon — a knife — before grabbing the victims Sony PSP, cash and a watch. Read more…

New York Police Department The suspect.

Stephen Rex Brown The scene at Emigrant Savings Bank around 45 minutes after the attempted robbery last month.

The police are on the hunt for a man in his 30s who made a failed attempt to rob an Emigrant Savings Bank on June 4.

The suspect, who is thought to be around 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, passed a note to the teller of the bank on Second Avenue at around 3:10 p.m. demanding cash. The teller refused, and the suspect took off, the police said.

A driver involved in a car accident at Avenue C and East Houston Street assaulted a traffic agent who arrived on the scene yesterday, police said.

The suspect, Lower East Side resident Magda Napoleon, was driving a Dodge Caravan through the intersection at around 9 a.m. when she was involved in an accident with another vehicle that fled the scene, a police spokeswoman said.

The police said that Ms. Napoleon — apparently infuriated by the accident — threw a liquid in the face of a traffic agent who responded to the accident; the confrontation escalated further, and the 43-year-old suspect ended up in a scuffle with the traffic agent. A 40-year-old man, Jason Ferrer, is said to have joined the melee, and ended up in handcuffs as well.

Ms. Napoleon was charged with assault. Mr. Ferrer faces a charge of obstructing government administration. The traffic agent was taken to New York Downtown Hospital for scratches and bruises on her face.

Earlier this week, Jose “Cochise” Quiles recounted his time as a member of the Satan’s Sinners Nomads, and told The Local that gangs such as the Bloods, Latin Kings, and Money Boys are still very much prevalent in the neighborhood.

Today, we hear more about the problem from a few of the people who are fighting it at Henry Street Settlement and the Boys’ Club of New York’s Harriman Clubhouse, on East 10th Street. They join others like Aida Salgado and the D.A.’s office in promoting alternatives to street violence.

Dante Lawson, assistant group leader at Grand Street Settlement, says he sees gang activity on an almost daily basis. In this video, he explains why he has resisted the temptation to join his own family members in some of the neighborhood’s many “sets.”

New York Police Department The suspected impersonators.

The police are still searching for two men who posed as police officers late last year and attempted to rob two spas, one of which is in the neighborhood.

New surveillance images depict the men, who the police say posed as police officers at the Waterfront Spa on First Avenue on December 1. In that incident, the pair flashed a shield and asked to review the spa’s licenses and any cash kept on the premises, police said. A 55-year-old worker was grabbed by one of the suspects but not injured.

A second incident on December 12 at a spa in Washington Heights followed a similar pattern.

In both cases the victims refused and the suspects fled empty-handed.

The suspected police impersonators were first covered in a police blotter in January.

Earlier this week the police announced they were searching for a man who posed as an officer and robbed teenagers in the Bronx of their cellphones.
Read more…

Last Saturday, Jose Quiles spoke to a group of students at P.S./M.S. 34 on East 12th Street. Some were the age that he was when he first entered the gang world.

Responding to a recent spate of violence, Rick Del Rio, the senior pastor at Abounding Grace Ministries, had invited the man many in the neighborhood know as Cochise to a basketball tournament, barbecue, and youth outreach session, to speak about his rough-and-tumble life on the Lower East Side.

Mr. Quiles was born on St. Marks Place in 1961. He joined his first gang at the age of 13 and then in 1988, formed one of his own: the Satan’s Sinners Nomads. After attempting to kill two of his fellow gang members in 1993, he served 18 years in prison. At the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., he began counseling gang members; he was released in January and now, as a resident of Campos Plaza, hopes to steer at-risk youth away from what he said was an assortment of gangs in the neighborhood, including the Bloods, Money Boys, and Latin Kings. Read more…

The Police Department canvassed the 179 apartments in the Seward Park Houses on Essex Street today, a show of force in the ongoing search for the suspect in last week’s shooting of an officer on patrol. The reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect has also been raised to $22,000, as indicated in the video above.

A 24-year-old man was sliced across the face for no apparent reason after leaving Famous Hakki Pizza at Essex and Rivington Streets this morning. A police spokesman said that the victim had just bought a slice and stepped onto the sidewalk when the unknown assailant cut him from his left cheek to the bottom of his chin at around 2:15 a.m. with a sharp object and then fled. The victim was treated at Bellevue Hospital. Check back later for further details.

Here’s a sketch of the suspect in this morning’s shooting in the Lower East Side that likely would have killed a police officer were it not for his Kevlar vest. The incident happened in the stairwell between the 18th and 19th floors of the Seward Park Houses at around 3:40 a.m. While on a routine patrol, Officer Brian Groves came upon the armed suspect, who shot him in the chest after a brief pursuit, according to a statement from Commissioner Raymond Kelly. The Lo-Down reports a heavy police presence in the neighborhood.

Stephen Robinson The victim, on a stretcher, being treated by medics.

A would-be robber cracked a female employee at Snack Dragon in the head with a tip jar he tried to snatch at around 2 a.m.

Stephen Robinson Bloody gauze at the scene.

“Somebody walked in there and tried to take the tip jar,” said Deputy Inspector John Cappelmann, who confirmed the incident on East Third Street near Avenue B. “The female tried to stop the perp, and he wound up using it as a weapon.”

The victim required stitches in her head. Bloody gauze was left at the scene, where several stunned witnesses lingered until around 3 a.m.

One of the bystanders, who did not give his name, said he tried to pursue the suspect who fled the scene, but lost him on Avenue C.

Inspector Cappelmann added that investigators from the Ninth Precinct were on the verge of arresting a suspect.

Stephen Robinson The scene at East Third Street and Avenue B.

This will put a damper on his Fourth of July plans.

A medic for the Fire Department was arrested early this morning after selling fireworks to an undercover officer, the police said.

The suspect, Anthony Baijnauth, was selling the fun — but illegal — explosives out of a large bag stashed in his car at Norfolk and East Houston Streets at around 12:10 a.m., the police said. After selling some of the fireworks to the undercover officer, the 24-year-old resident of Queens was arrested and charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks.