Volume One, Issue 30, April 13 - 19, 2007
Police Blotter
Sisters charged
Four sisters with a long-standing grudge against their upstairs neighbor at 344 E. 28th St. were arrested and charged with assaulting her in the lobby of the building at 8:30 p.m. Sat. April 7, police said
Allana Grant, 24, Christine Crosby, 20, April Kittrell, 18, and Quindaya Potter, 18, punched, kicked and whipped their neighbor with a belt when they waylaid her in the lobby, according to charges filed by District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau. Two of the sisters had followed the victim from the subway station at E. 28th St. and Park Ave. S., and the other two were waiting in the lobby, according to the charges.
Aware that she was being followed, the victim called 911 on her cell phone. Police arrived at the building while the attack was going on and made the arrests.
All four were charged with assault, and Grant was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon because she was carrying a box cutter during the incident, according to the District Attorney’s office. Grant was free on $1,500 bail, and her sisters were free on their own recognizance pending an April 13 court appearance.
Extortion sentence
Federal Judge Lewis A. Kaplan on April 6 sentenced Salvatore Scala, 64, identified as a Gambino crime captain, to six years in prison and ordered him to forfeit $667,000 after his conviction of extortion and conspiracy to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from VIP Club, the strip club at 20 W. 20th St., beginning in the early 1990s.
Scala’s co-defendant, Thomas Sassano, 61, also found guilty in the VIP Club extortion, will be sentenced July 23.
Scala initiated the extortion in the early 1990s, and after his arrest on another charge in 2000, he assigned Sassano to continue it, according to the charges. Scala paid part of his take as “tribute” to Peter Gotti, then boss of the Gambino family, the indictment says.
Robbed in Chelsea
Two muggers punched, kicked and took $80 from a man, 38, at 5:30 a.m. Sat. April 7 on the northwest corner of Seventh Ave. at W.19th St. Police arrested Leroy Nelson, 19, and Jason Bethea, 19, and charged them with second-degree robbery in connection with the incident.
Scammed in Chelsea
A resident of W. 19th St. between Seventh and Eighth Aves. received a phone call about 6 p.m. Wed. April 4 from a woman acquaintance who said she inherited $2 million but needed immediate cash and would hand over the entire inheritance for a $600 check, police said. The victim gave the caller his bank information so that she could arrange the $2 million deposit, and the following morning two women he never met before knocked on his door, asked for the check and he handed it over. But by Monday afternoon April 10, the $2 million had not been deposited, and the victim went to police to file charges of fraud.
Construction break-in
Thieves broke into a construction trailer parked in front of 331 W. 14th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves. on Sunday night April 9 and made off with power tools and equipment valued at $2,850, police said.
Myst assault
Six men punched and kicked a visitor from Toronto and his friend during the early hours of Sun. April 8 inside Myst, the club at 511 W. 28th St., police said. Michael Tetro, 23; Adrian Boga, 23; Alexandro Gall, 23; Richard Phillips, 23; Ghalys El Reyes, 27; and Mohamad Ibrahim, 27, were charged with assault in the incident.
Studio bop
Police charged Mohamad Mohamad, 23, with hitting a man over the head with a bottle during the early hours of Sat, April 7 in Studio, the club at 530 W. 28th St.
Fourth-floor job
Two men walked into 249 W. 17th St. about 3 p.m. Fri. April 6, took an elevator to the fourth-floor office of Penton Media, a printing firm, and walked out with four laptops, police said.
Motorcycle stolen
A man who parked his Honda bike at the southwest corner of W. 20th and Seventh Ave. at 7:20 p.m. Mon. April 9 returned the following morning to find it had been stolen.
Trespass arrests
Police arrested GiGi Marie Rocado, 30, in the stairwell of 450 W. 27th St. in the Elliott Chelsea Houses at 1 a.m. Sun. April 8 and charged her with criminal trespass. The suspect had two glassine bags of crack, police said. On Friday evening April 6, police found Edward Hines in the basement of 450 W. 27th St. with a crack pipe and charged him with criminal trespass.
— By Albert Amateau
