By Alex Christodoulides
The year's most attention-grabbing homicide was the shooting of Forest Hills dentist Daniel Malakov in October in front of his 4-year-old daughter. He was shot down at the playground behind PS 175 at the corner of Yellowstone Boulevard and 64th Road. Malakov and his ex-wife, Mazoltuv Borukhova, were locked in a custody battle over the little girl, and a relative of Borukhova who lives in Atlanta was charged as the gunman.Burglaries increased almost 25 percent in 2007, with 257 reported through the week of Dec. 16, the most recent for which CompStat figures were available. There were 206 burglaries during the same period in 2006, and 217 for that calendar year, according to the figures.Capt. Richard Napoletano, commanding officer of the 112th Precinct, said at the December meeting of the precinct's Community Council that there had been several incidents along Queens Boulevard in which thieves stole women's handbags from their shopping carts and that the area had seen a rise in building break-ins. The precinct has also been a frequent target of bank robberies due in part to the high concentration of banks along Queens Boulevard, Metropolitan and 71st avenues.Other crime declined in all reported categories through Dec. 16. The precinct reported six rapes for the year through Dec. 16, down from eight in 2006, a 25 percent drop. There were 112 robberies through Dec. 16, with 193 reported for the same period in 2006, a 42 percent decline. Assaults were down about 18 percent from last year, with 49 reported vs. 60 complaints for the same period last year. Grand larceny reports were down 15 percent since 2006, with 563 complaints compared to 662 for the same period last year. Auto theft also declined this year, with 155 reports of cars stolen, a 28.5 percent drop since last year when 217 cars were stolen during the same period.Reach reporter Alex Christodoulides by e-mail at achristodoulides@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
