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Police Blotter
Heliport accident A Liberty Tours helicopter with four sightseeing passengers was clipped on takeoff a few feet above the pad at the 30th St. Heliport on Sunday morning March 24 when a rear stabilizing bar hit the spinning rotors of another chopper on the pad. There were no injuries and the craft landed safely. The passengers, two from France and two from England, were unaware that anything went wrong until detectives questioned them about the incident, according to D.I. Stephen Hughes, 10th Precinct commanding officer. “If it were a few feet higher there would have been serious injuries,” Hughes said. The craft, piloted by Jason Costello, 33, was turning when its rear stabilizer hit the rotors of the chopper piloted by Kevin Pearson, 29, which had just landed with no passengers. The stabilizing bar came off on impact, flew through the air, and pierced the wall of the trailer that serves as the heliport office and waiting room. No one in the trailer was injured. One of the rotors of the helicopter on the pad was damaged. The incident was reported to the National Transportation Safety Board. Police arrested Jennifer Vasquez, 20, and her sister, Stephanie Vasquez, 18, at 5 a.m. Sun., March 23 in front of 121 Ninth Ave. in the Fulton Houses for interfering with cops on duty. Jennifer was charged with assaulting an arrested officer, and Stephanie was charged with obstructing government administration. A short time earlier police arrested Eddie Rivera, 27, for breaking a widow of a store at 110 Ninth Ave. across from the Fulton Houses, and charged him also with resisting arrest by flailing his arms and screaming curses at the arresting officers.
Carlos Padilla, 22, a suspect in the Feb. 19 push-in robbery of an 81-year-old woman in her apartment at 260 W. 16th St., was arrested on Wed., March 19. Padilla rang the victim’s doorbell at 5:30 p.m., convinced her to let him in, and then stole cash, jewelry and a laptop computer, according to the charges. The suspect, a resident of W. 90th St., was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail pending an April 29 court appearance. About five men dressed in women’s clothes came out of a car on 30th St. and Eighth Ave. and stabbed and robbed a victim, 21, just after he left Club Vesta, 390 Eighth Ave., at 4:15 a.m. Fri., March 22. The robbers snatched a gold chair from the victim’s neck and then sped off, police said. Elliot Alston, 22, charged with shooting William Wilson, 23, in both legs during a March 17 fracas outside 415 W. 25th St., in the Elliot Chelsea Houses, was being held in lieu of $15,000 bail pending an April 25 court appearance. Wilson, charged with stabbing Alston’s brother, Jamal Alston, 25, in the same incident, was freed on bail pending a June 30 court appearance. A Manhattan jury on Thurs., March 27 found Remy Smith, 26, the hip-hop performer known as Remy Ma, guilty of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and attempted criminal coercion, in connection with the June 14, 2007 shooting of a friend in front of a Meatpacking District night spot. Smith fired the shot from her unlicensed handgun after accusing the victim of stealing $3,000 from her bag, according to the charges. The victim, Makeda Barnes-Joseph, underwent three operations, which left her with part of her colon and no feeling in one leg. The victim had filed a $20 million civil suit against Smith but withdrew it on March 27, according to reports. Smith, who left the courtroom in tears on Thursday, is to be sentenced April 22. She is subject to up to 25 years in prison. Police arrested Timothy Perez, 20, inside Home, the club at 532 W. 27th St., at 3 a.m. Sat., March 22 and charged him with grand larceny and possession of stolen property when they found two stolen handbags with a total of $87 in his possession. Police arrested Wayne Slater, 52, at 5 a.m., Sun March 23 when he was spotted inside a car parked on W. 21st St. between Ninth and 10th Aves., across from General Theological Seminary. Slater had used a screwdriver to open a locked door and was stripping the inside of the car, police said. A resident of 244 W. 23rd St., Michael Lucas, 36, was arrested on Sat., March 15, after a neighbor told police the defendant slapped and scratched him. Witnesses said Lucas broke several items in one of the apartments of the building and cut himself on the arm by the time police arrived. Police arrested Leighton Buckley, 34, for fighting with a traffic officer at 1:40 p.m. Sun., March 16 who ordered him to move his car doubled-parked on the northwest corner of Ninth Ave. at W. 23rd St. Police said Buckley got out of the car and tangled with the officer, who used Mace to subdue the victim, police said.
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