Volume One, Issue 32, April 27 - May 3, 2007
Police Blotter
Gun in trash
A maintenance worker at the Chelsea Mercantile residential complex with more than 190 apartments at 252 Seventh Ave. near 25th St. turned over to police a .42 caliber handgun and a bullet clip that dropped out of a compacted trash bag on Tuesday afternoon April 24, police said.
Teacher threatened
A teacher at P.S. 11, 320 W. 21st St., anxious about a frequently absent student who had come to class with a partly bald haircut and dirty clothes, called the child’s stepmother for a meeting on Tuesday morning April 24 and was threatened by the woman, who responded to questions with an obscene expletive and the statement, “I’ll get you,” police said. The case is under investigation.
Counterfeit raid
Police armed with a warrant raided a clothing boutique at 211 W. 28th St. on Tuesday evening April 24 and impounded counterfeit trademarked merchandize valued at $250,000. The operator of the store, Ibrahim Jalloh, 35, was charged with trademark infringement.
19th St. burglary
A burglar broke a lock on a stairway to a terrace at 434 W. 19th St. and made his way into an eighth-floor apartment while the resident was out on Monday evening April 23, police said. The thief got away with jewelry valued at $19,160, including 12 watches, police said.
Car burglar
Police arrested George Bahamunoi, 21, on Saturday night April 21, after witnesses told police they saw him break the front passenger door of a car parked on Ninth Ave. at 26th St. The suspect was in possession of the car’s registration, a pair of Timberland boots, a walkman, two jackets, a pair of gloves and music CDs from the car when he was arrested, police said.
Braunstein trial
The trial of Peter Braunstein, charged with arson, impersonating a firefighter, and sexually abusing and imprisoning a woman in her Chelsea apartment on Halloween 2005, is not expected to finish before the end of June.
Jury selection began on Tues. April 23, but after two days and the screening of about 200 potential jurors, the process continued on Thurs. April 26. Many jury candidates said they would not be able to serve on a case that could last eight weeks.
Braunstein, a freelance writer, is charged with gaining access to the W. 24th St. apartment of his victim, 34, a former Women’s Wear Daily colleague, by setting fires in the hallway and convincing her to open the door because he was dressed as a firefighter. He bound, sexually abused and held her in the apartment for 13 hours before fleeing, according to the charges.
A fugitive for six weeks, Braunstein was the subject of a multi-state police alert before he was captured in Memphis, where he slashed his own neck as police closed in. Justice Thomas Farber ruled on April 23 that statements that Braunstein had made to NYPD detectives who brought him from Memphis to New York could not be used in the trial because the defendant indicated he wanted a lawyer and had not been advised that he had the right to remain silent.
However, Farber ruled that Braunstein’s extensive diary entries leading up to the October 2005 incident would be admissible as evidence.
A judge had ruled on April 18 that Braunstein, 43, was physically and mentally able to assist in his own defense despite skull fractures sustained while being held in Rikers Island. Jail officials said the injuries were self-inflicted when Braunstein banged his head against a jail cell sink.
Braunstein has indicated he would seek acquittal by reason of insanity.
Sunburn and heartburn
Security guards at Rite-Aid, 188 Ninth Ave. near 21st St., stopped John Stafford, 56, on Monday afternoon April 23 and charged him with trying to walk out with three packages of sun block valued at $27, police said. Rite-Aid security guards at 282 Eighth Ave. at 24th St. stopped Leonard Vaughn, 45, at 7 p.m. the same day and charged him with trying to walk out with 33 boxes of Prilosec, an over-the-counter heartburn remedy, police said.
Taggers tagged
Police charged two students, both 16, at Humanities High School, 351 W. 18th St., with vandalism. One student was arrested Friday April 13 for putting his BREADZ tag on school property, and the other student was arrested a week later on April 20 for spraying his STYLES tag on school property.
Punch at club
A woman patron, 34, at Crobar, the club at 530 W. 28th St., told police that a well-dressed man got into an argument with her during the early hours of Sun. April 24 and punched her in the face four times and fled.
Rough bouncers
A Brooklyn man, 22, told police that about four bouncers pushed him out of the Maritime Hotel bar, 369 W. 16th St., at 2:30 a.m. Sat. April 21, causing him to fall down the steps, and continued pushing him against a wall on the street.
Out the window
A woman eating at an open window of a restaurant at 102 Eighth Ave. at 15th St. at 2:30 a.m. Sun April 22, was surprised by a passerby who reached in, stole her handbag and fled on foot south down Eighth Ave., police said. She found that an unauthorized $65 charge had been made on a credit card at a subway Metrocard machine.
Handbag theft
Security guards at Home, the club at 532 W. 27th St. spotted a man just outside the club taking two handbags from under his jacket at 3:40 a.m. Sun. April 22 and called police who arrested Gini Moshe, 25, for grand larceny. The bags had been taken from two women patrons of the club and were returned to the owners, police said.
— Albert Amateau
