Suzanne Rozdeba A police car at East Fourth Street and Avenue D.

Two gunshots were fired in the Lillian Wald Houses at around 2:45 p.m., a convenience store employee told The Local.

“I didn’t see anything other than people running when they heard the shots,” said Mohamed Sidi, who works at 33 Best Deal on Avenue D. “People were scared.”

A pair of police officers were lingering at the entrance to the Lillian Wald complex at East Fourth Street at around 4 p.m., but would not comment, citing an ongoing investigation. An employee at the nearby Ave. D Candy Store, Ahmedou Ould-Dahya, also told The Local he heard a pair of gunshots.

A spokesman for the police department did yet not have any information on the possible incident.

The police arrested a man suspected of robbing a convenience store on First Avenue, but his accomplice — who is wanted for at least 16 other heists — is still at large.

The police said that 30-year-old Duwayne Bascom and another man entered the store at 111 First Avenue on Nov. 21 at around 8:40 p.m., demanded an unknown amount of money and then fled with the cash. But Mr. Bascom has not yet been tied to any of the other robberies, three of which occurred around the East Village.

In the first, the suspect entered a Subway on Second Avenue between St. Marks Place and Ninth Street on Nov. 9 at around 2:25 a.m., brandished a knife and demanded money from the cashier. Police did not say how much money he received.
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Yesterday, City Room reported that “the picture of crime in New York City in 2011 is shaping up as virtually a mirror image of the year before, according to police statistics.” In the East Village, statistics released this week (tracking incidents reported to the Ninth Precinct in the period ending Dec. 11) show that crime complaints were almost universally down with three weeks left in the year. Petit larceny (theft of property valued at $1,000 or less), grand larceny auto, and misdemeanor sex crimes were the only categories that saw increases in reported crime following Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lehr’s appointment as precinct commander in January. Below, our chart comparing this year’s numbers with last year’s, and comparing the percentage of change in the Ninth Precinct to the same citywide.

The police easily tied one of the men accused of robbing Souen to the crime: he had a large bird tattoo on his face that was captured by surveillance cameras. DNAInfo reports that 22-year-old Jorge Molina was arrested on Nov. 20 for running from the police — seven days after the macrobiotic restaurant near University Place was burglarized. The police quickly recognized the tattoo on his right cheekbone and charged him with the crime. An accomplice in the heist is still being sought.

Surveillance footage released by N.Y.P.D.

The police have arrested a suspect in Sunday’s early-morning attempted rape, Lieutenant Patrick Ferguson of the Ninth Precinct announced tonight.

Mr. Ferguson said that he had just heard about the arrest shortly before addressing around 25 attendees at a Ninth Precinct Community Council meeting and had no further information. A police spokesman had not yet received any information regarding the arrest of the suspect, either. [See update below.] Read more…

Daniel Maurer The alleged rape occurred outside of 303 East Eighth Street.

The 51-year-old accused of the brutal and brazen rape of a woman on Eighth Street on Saturday morning spent seven years being shuffled between city jails and state mental health institutions.

Neal Essex, who was scheduled to appear in criminal court today, spent a total of 1,350 days behind bars over the course of seven separate jail bids; all of which were related to a second-degree murder charge in 1984 (The Local was unable to confirm the victim or verdict in the case, but The New York Post reported that Mr. Essex was accused of killing his mother.) Despite all the jail time, Mr. Essex did not end up serving time in the New York prison system, according to a Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman. And, until the alleged rape, he had not been to jail or prison since 1991. Read more…

Daniel Maurer 303 East Eighth Street

A 51-year-old man was arrested for raping a woman on Saturday morning, an N.Y.P.D. spokesman said.

The victim told the police that the suspect threw her to the ground outside of 303 East Eighth Street at around 8:19 a.m. and attacked her. The suspect was arrested at the scene between Avenues B and C. The victim — whose age was not available — was treated at Bellevue Hospital and had bruising to the face, according to the spokesman.

A resident in the area commented on EV Grieve that a person walked out of a building nearby, saw the crime and called 911.

According to the latest crime statistics, the incident is at least the tenth rape this year in the Ninth Precinct, which covers the East Village.

Stephen Rex Brown

The long weekend was rife with shootings, and the East Village was no exception. A man and woman shot a 24-year-old man in the stomach on Saturday morning and were arrested at the Second Avenue subway station, the police said.

A NYPD spokesman told The Local that the victim was at Third Street and First Avenue at 3:45 a.m. when the duo shot him, and was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. The spokesman did not explain if there was a motive for the attack.

The police apprehended the two suspects — a 34-year-old man from Vinegar Hill and a 26-year-old woman from East New York — on the platform of the F train. Both were charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment.

The suspect in the July slaying of a homeless man in Union Square is expected to be cleared of charges, DNA Info reports. The 29-year-old man, Keenan Bryce, was charged with brutally beating the homeless man to death with a bike lock and chain. But Mr. Bryce’s brother refused to accept that his mentally ill sibling was guilty, and through a good deal of research was able to prove that Mr. Bryce was in New Jersey during the time of the murder.

Stephen Rex Brown The incident occurred at the Lower East Side II Houses.

Five people taking target practice with a BB gun on Friday night were arrested for accidentally shooting a passerby in the leg, police reported.

The 44-year-old victim told the police that she was walking by 716 East Sixth Street at around 8:15 p.m. when she was struck, according to an NYPD spokesman. Police then canvassed the area and found a broken window on the third floor of the building between Avenues C and D, as well as a bottle on the windowsill, leading them to conclude that an errant BB had struck the woman.
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Ian Duncan The Avenue C poker club was robbed at gunpoint on Saturday. It has now closed. Below: a joker marks the club’s door.

Six card players were robbed at gunpoint late Saturday night in a poker club on Avenue C, according to police reports. Two armed men entered the New York City Poker Tour club shortly before 11 p.m. and ushered the players into a closet before robbing them. One player – identified by owner Jeremy Martin as Michael C. – had just returned from a successful night at a casino and was carrying $4,500 in cash.

Ian Duncan

The club had closed on Saturday night, but Mr. Martin and a few other players were inside after hours. The robbers knocked at the door and were let in. They quickly rounded up the players, took their cash and left.

Mr. Martin believes that he was “set up” by one of the players, because the gunmen shook down Michael first, before ordering the other players to empty their pockets.

Mr. Martin said no one was hurt in the robbery, but according to police reports, one person was punched in the face by the attackers. The robbers escaped with $6,500 in cash, a driver’s license and a Medicaid card.

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Khristopher J. Brooks The intersection where the robbery occurred.

It was her second night in New York City and Rebecca Burns — still jetlagged by the long plane ride from her native Australia — was walking along 11th Street after midnight with a friend, Emma Marquard.

Suddenly a man approached wearing a black bandanna with skeleton designs on it and produced a handgun. “And he says ‘Don’t scream. Give me your bag’ and Bec goes ‘Are you serious?'” Ms. Marquard recalled recently. “You know, we’re from Australia and people there just don’t have guns, so when I saw it, I thought it was fake.”

But within moments, the pair came to a horrible realization: they were being robbed at gunpoint.

The incident underscores a recent uptick in crime in the neighborhood, which has seen robberies in the Ninth Police Precinct increase by about 10 percent when compared to the same time last year.

The police declined to discuss the figures, or the robbery on 11th Street, which occurred July 6. But those who study crime trends note that the typical spikes in crime that occur during the summer months might be exacerbated by the recent run of especially balmy weather.

“Summer months are indeed more dangerous in terms of street crimes as more people hang out till late hours and among the ones who hang out for legitimate reasons are also predators of various sorts and kinds,” said Professor Maria Haberfeld, who studies public law enforcement at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “It is a documented fact in criminal justice research that weather does influence crime rate.”
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Courtesy of NYPDA police photo of the suspect.

The police are searching for a suspect in an attempted bank robbery Monday morning. Around 10:30 a.m., a man entered Bank of America at 72 Second Avenue and passed a note demanding money. The authorities describe the suspect, who did not receive any money, as a man in his 40’s who was wearing a white shirt and carrying a black backpack.

Community Board 3 passed a resolution Tuesday night condemning the actions of the two former Ninth Precinct police officers who were convicted of official misconduct in May. The former officers, Kenneth Moreno and Franklin L. Mata, were acquitted of all other charges from the 2008 incident in which a woman said that she was raped by the officers after they helped her to her East Village home. The resolution calls on the sentencing judge to impose the harshest possible punishment on each of the men — two years in prison.
—Laura E. Lee

There’s a grim report this morning from a bit south of our neighborhood: a 23-year-old man was shot and killed just after 12:30 a.m. Tuesday at 85 Pitt Street on the Lower East Side; the authorities identified the victim as Jonathan Alston, of Brooklyn. The Lo-Down provided coverage of the shooting throughout the morning. The Local has reporters on the story and we will provide more details as they become available.
— Chelsia Rose Marcius

Laura E. Lee Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

Fighting crime — on the Internet or on the street — takes community cooperation, said Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who spoke to residents at the 9th Precinct Community Council meeting Tuesday night.

Addressing a crowd of about 40 people at the precinct stationhouse, Mr. Vance said individuals have to be diligent about protecting personal information from identity theft. “The Internet is the crime scene of the 21st century,” he said.

While cybercrime is a real threat, Mr. Vance said the 500 attorneys in his office are continuing to collaborate with the local precincts to combat the more traditional crime involving “guns, gangs and drugs.”

Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lehr, commanding officer for the precinct, emphasized the need for citizens to take preventative action against crime as the weather grows warmer.

He warned the audience of some of the daily hazards in the summer, like leaving a window open or not keeping a careful eye on personal items at sidewalk cafes. Residents should be on the lookout for any unknown individuals on fire escapes and alert officers to their presence, he said.

Several residents voiced concerns about criminal activity in the region, mostly focused on underage drinking and drunken activity in the early morning hours.

“Underage drinking is a tremendous problem for us,” Inspector Lehr said. When police tested local bars for serving minors, 64 percent passed, he said.

The Council does not meet in July or August.

NYPD Surveillance images of the suspect.

The police are searching for man nicknamed “Dante” who is suspected of choking and robbing two victims in Union Square and Chinatown in the last three weeks.

The first incident occurred on May 30 at the corner of Third Avenue and 16th Street. The suspect first chatted up his 27-year-old victim at around 4:30 a.m. before suddenly choking him and robbing his jewelry and money.

The second attack occurred on June 13 in the lobby of a building on the border of Chinatown and Little Italy. In that case, the suspect attacked his 30-year-old victim and robbed his wallet at 7:15 a.m. The police did not reveal the exact location of the crime.

The authorities noted that in both cases the suspect befriended his victims before making his move.

Investigators said that “Dante” is roughly 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds. He has a tattoo of a star under his eye, another tattoo on his neck, and writing on his chest.

Meghan Keneally The 310 Deli Corp V.

Earlier today, EV Grieve reported on the police-ordered closure last night of an East Village convenience store. We now have more details about what led the authorities to shutter the store — the police said that the shop’s owner was arrested and charged with possession and sale of narcotics.

The authorities said that undercover officers bought narcotics from the store on five occasions and the police issued a warrant May 28 for the store’s owner, Saleh Fadhel.

Mr. Fadhel, 31, owns 310 Deli Corp V on the corner of East Fourth Street and Avenue C, and that is where he was arrested Thursday night; the police said that four bags of narcotics were recovered at the scene. The authorities did not indicate what kind of drugs were seized.

The store remained closed today with two duct-taped signs displaying a court order and restraining order. Mr. Fadhel is scheduled to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on June 20.

The man suspected in three bank robberies.

Earlier today, we told you that the police are searching for a man suspected in a string of bank robberies in the city since last month, one of which took place in the East Village. We now have more details and some images of the suspect.

In all three cases the suspect entered a Chase Bank and passed a note to the teller demanding money.

The first incident occurred on May 2 at 8:19 a.m. at a branch at 350 West 125th Street. The suspect successfully fled with an unknown amount of cash.

The second occurred in our neighborhood on June 2 at 9 a.m. at a Chase Bank at 835 Broadway near East 13th Street. Again, the robber escaped with an unknown amount of money.

The suspect struck again four days later at 2438 Broadway near West 90th Street. This time, he left the scene empty-handed.

The authorities described the suspect as being in his 40’s. In a surveillance image he is shown wearing thick-rimmed glasses and a black coat.