By Tom Tracy
Plasma purloiner A 17-year-old was arrested last week when he was caught lugging a plasma television from an East 101st Street home, officials alleged this week. Cops said that Shawn Brown was charged with criminal trespass, burglary, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property after he was allegedly seen removing the television from the home at 3:10 p.m. on March 27. Police held Brown at the scene until they could confirm that he had no right removing anything from the home, and took him into custody, officials said. iPod thugs celled Two area teens were arrested last week following a gunpoint robbery at the corner of Flatlands Avenue and East 108th Street last week. Police were told that Jonathan Fuentes and Damien Benson allegedly approached their victim with two other unapprehended males at 8:50 a.m. on March 27 and ordered him to go with them. That’s when one of the thieves reportedly put an object that the victim thought was a handgun as the others went through their prey’s pockets, police alleged. Cops arrested Fuentes a short time later, charging him with menacing, grand larceny and robbery. Benson was apprehended at the same time and faced the same charges, officials said. Clearing out the showcase Cops are looking for a crew of well-dressed thieves who were seen raiding Dante Zeller Tuxedo, 5407 Flatlands Avenue, recently. Witnesses said that someone smashed the display window to the store sometime before 9 p.m. on March 24 and stole an assortment of top hats, tails and everything in between as well as $242 in receipts. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this break-in to call the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Slashed during robbery A 17-year-old suffered a cut on his cheek as he tried to fend off a switch-blade wielding thief at the corner of Flatbush and Flatlands avenues recently. Police from the 63rd Precinct said that they arrested the alleged thief, who is also 17, following the 5 p.m. robbery on March 27. The victim told police that he was passing the corner when the thief approached, demanding that he hand over his watch, earrings and money. When the victim refused, the teenage thug flipped out his switch blade and lunged, raking the blade across the teen’s face. The thief fled, but was apprehended by responding officers, officials said. Shot in the shoulder A 16-year-old was shot in the shoulder outside I.S. 211 after a group of gun-toting thugs asked him if he went to the school, police said. Police said that the victim, a resident of East 98th Street, had just played basketball with friends at the John Wilson playground next to the school at 9 p.m. on March 21 and had just left the courts on East 101st Street between Avenues K and L when the three suspects rolled up to him in a gray Dodge Charger. Officials said that the trio reportedly began chatting with the victim. They then asked him if he went to the school and reportedly shot him before he responded. The victim was rushed to Brookdale Hospital where he was listed in serious condition. His condition improved, said investigators, who are still searching for the three men in the Dodge Charger. Anyone with information regarding this shooting is urged to calls the 69th Precinct detective squad at (718) 257-6315 or the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Hitman visits homestead A 23-year-old man was found shot in the driveway of his East 103rd Street home Thursday, police from the 69th Precinct said. Officials said that that the victim was found sprawled out in his driveway at 2 p.m. on March 20. He was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was listed in stable condition. Cops were still looking for the gunman as this paper went to press. Help wipe out graffiti As the ongoing war against graffiti vandals continues, cops are now offering up to $500 in reward money to anyone who can offer them information that can lead them to anyone who commits graffiti vandalism. The hefty reward is part of the city’s new push to rid New York of graffiti vandals. Graffiti is one of the leading quality of life complaints brought to police. Officials said that cleaning up graffiti is essential to the plan, to show that the community is no longer going to tolerate marred and tagged-up walls and street corners. According to police there is a perception that if a community will tolerate graffiti, they will tolerate other criminal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution. Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911. Gunned down A 28-year-old man was gunned down outside a Nostrand Avenue nightclub near Avenue D early Saturday, police from the 67th Precinct said this week. Officials said that Elijah Jefferson, a resident of Louisiana Avenue in Starrett City, was found shot twice in the torso at about 4:30 a.m. on March 29. He was rushed to Kings County Hospital where he died of his injuries just before 5 a.m. According to published reports, City Councilmember Kendall Stewart is co owner of Café Omar, the club in front of which Jefferson was shot. Police said that Jefferson had just left the club after a night of partying when he was gunned down. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Bizarre scene Cops investigating a motor vehicle crash at the corner of East 40th Street and Avenue H ended up finding a murder victim, officials said this week. Cops from the 67th Precinct said that they were called to the corner at 1:30 a.m. on March 28, where they found the front of a 1995 Lincoln Town Car jammed under the bottom of a flatbed truck. They checked out the area, only to find a black male in his thirties lying in the street. The man had been shot in the torso, officials said. Investigators are reportedly working on the theory that the victim was driving the Town Car when he had been shot. After crashing the car into the flatbed, he managed to stumble out of the car, only to die a few feet away. Cops had not released the victim’s name as this paper went to press. Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Shot on St. Paul’s Place Police are trying to find the gunman who opened fire on a young man on St. Paul’s Place, striking him in the chest and hip. Cops from the 70th Precinct said that they were dispatched to St. Paul’s Place near Crooke Avenue just before 7 p.m. on March 26 when they saw the victim being placed into a blue Ford Explorer. His friends who were transporting him said that he was standing in front of one of the buildings when an unidentified gunman opened fire, hitting him twice. Police escorted the Ford Explorer to the Kings County Hospital, but their efforts were in vain. The man died of his injuries just after 8 p.m. Investigators were still looking for the shooter as this paper went to press. Anyone with information regarding the shooter can contact either the 70th Precinct at (718) 851-5511 or the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Sears raid A gunman raided the Sear’s department store at 2307 Beverley Road just before it was about to close last week, seizing $90,000 in receipts. Workers told police that they were about to end their day at 9:50 p.m. on March 29 when the gunman, described only as a 5’11” black male, surprised them, pulled a gun and demanded that they to fork over the night receipts. The thief took the money and ran off further into the massive store without hurting anyone — a move which forced responding officers to do a floor-by-floor search for the perpetrator. The gunman managed to elude authorities and slip out into the night, officials said. Cops were still looking for the thief as this paper went to press. Robbed at ATM A 43-year-old woman was robbed of $1000 after being held up at an area ATM. The woman told police that she was withdrawing money at a neighborhood Citibank, located at 881 Flatbush Avenue at Church Avenue, at 7 a.m. on March 29 when a 5’6”, 180-pound black male in his twenties jumped her. The thief took her cash and iPod and ran down Church Avenue toward Bedford Avenue, officials said. No serious injuries were reported. Copper caper Over $9,000 in copper wire was removed from a Flatbush Avenue electric company during a daring nighttime raid, officials said. Police said that BNG Electric, located near Avenue H, usually has a security guard on post. That guard, however, was answering nature’s call when the thieves backed up a big truck to the entrance of the place, swiped a hefty roll of wire and rolled off with it. Investigators said that copper wire a hot item these days because of the value it brings at junk yards and recycle plants. Cops were still looking for the wiry thieves as this paper went to press. Searching for Jason Cops have identified a man sought for a killing outside an East Flatbush club. Police said that they are pulling out all the stops for 24-year-old Jason Matthias, who has managed to elude authorities since the February 16 killing. Cops were responding to calls of a male shot on East 98th Street near Willmohr Street at 4:30 a.m. when they found 27-year-old Carl Brown suffering from a gunshot wound to his head. Brown, a Bristol Street who helped manage a Caribbean restaurant in Brownsville, died at the scene. In the weeks that followed, police narrowed in on Matthias, a college dropout who Brown allegedly made fun of during a card game, according to published reports. Police alleged that Matthias snuck up behind Brown and shot him in the head as he walked past an area nightclub. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to call the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. Church robbed on Easter Cops are looking for three thugs who robbed a Bedford Avenue Church at gunpoint on Easter Sunday. Cops were told that the three males entered the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, located between Church and Snyder avenues at about 2:30 p.m. on March 23 and asked to use the bathroom. The trio went into the basement, where they reportedly pulled a gun on a pastor and robbed the place of $3,000 in church coffers. A handful of parishioners were inside the church, preparing for the next mass when the robbery took place, said officials. No injuries were reported. The three gunmen were still at large as this paper went to press. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this robbery to call the 67th Precinct at (718) 287-3211. All calls will be kept confidential.
