By Matthew Monks
The 114th covers six square miles in northwestern Queens, including the neighborhoods of Long Island City, Astoria, Ditmars and Steinway.
There were 199 robberies as of June 20, 2004 in that area compared with 229 by June 20, 2003 – a 13 percent decrease. Burglaries were down almost 10 percent, with 251 cases this year compared with 278 last year, New York City Police Department statistics show.
Grand larceny is up about 8 percent, with 347 complaints this year. That's 27 more cases than in 2003, according to police. Auto theft, however, was down 8 percent with 274 cases this year.
Rape, murder and felony assault are about on par with last year. Rape held steady, with 16 cases reported for each time period. And there have been 143 felony assaults, three fewer than last year.
There have been three murders this year, one fewer than by June 2003.
In February, 19-year-old Raynor Bradshaw was shot in the neck and killed at the corner of Crescent Street and 34th Avenue. A Brooklyn man named Jonathan Moss, 22, was later charged with second-degree murder in connection with shooting.
On March 1, a Bellerose woman named Eileen Acevedo, 34, was killed in the crossfire during a gunfight outside a Long Island City nightclub. Joseph Harper, 26, of Far Rockaway, was charged on May 19 with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting.
A month after that incident, a 22-year-old man was charged with homicide in May in connection with the hit-and-run death of 83-year-old Agnes DeCristino. Nick Drossos, 22, of 20-15 20th St., had been driving with a suspended license at the time of the accident, the Queens district attorney said.
The 114th Precinct's dipping crime rate appears to be following a citywide trend. Crime is down about 4 percent across the five boroughs, with 7 percent fewer robberies and 16 percent fewer burglaries, citywide statistics show. Grand larceny, however, is up 2.6 percent and rape is up by 4 percent.
Reach reporter Matthew Monks by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
