By Connor Adams Sheets
The 109th Precinct Community Council gave its Police Officer of the Month award for September last week to a member of the force whose work led to four arrests in one evening.
Officer Joseph Mangiapane responded to a 911 call at about 10:50 p.m. Sept. 24 involving a robbery in the vicinity of Barclay Avenue and Bowne Street in Flushing, Deputy Inspector Brian Maguire said at the council’s Oct. 13 meeting.
Upon arriving at the scene, two men reported that they had been robbed in separate incidents, Maguire said. In both robberies, the men were approached by four men, one of whom asked them for the time, Maguire said. When the men took out their iPhones in response to the query, the robbers beat them — punching one victim in the face — and stole their phones before fleeing, Maguire said.
Mangiapane then found the four men, got a positive identification of them from one of their alleged victims and arrested the suspected offenders and hauled them back to the police precinct, where they were booked, Maguire said.
A 14-year-old male came into the precinct shortly afterwards and reported being knocked down and having his cell phone stolen, which Mangiapane said he recognized as a possible part of the robbery pattern.
“He gave the same description — four male blacks — and said that like with the other victims, they asked him for the time and that when he took his cellphone out, they pushed him to the ground and took his cellphone,” Mangiapane said.
The victim also positively identified the four suspects and the four men were hit with multiple charges, according to Maguire.
“As a result of Officer Mangiapane’s work, these individuals were charged with multiple counts of robbery in the second degree,” Maguire told the assembled community council members, police officers and community members.
State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) presented Mangiapane with a glass Police Officer of the Month plaque on behalf of the 109th Precinct to recognize him for his crime-fighting efforts.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
