104th Commander Touts ‘Good Arrests’
Police have made a number of solid arrests for various crimes committed in the 104th Precinct’s confines during the first six months of 2012, the force’s commanding officer reported to residents at last Wednesday’s (Feb. 15) meeting of the Committee of Organizations of Precinct 104 (COP104) in Maspeth.
Capt. Michael Cody informed attendees at Maspeth Town Hall that the command has been “even in crime” since New Year’s Day. While there have been no murders, shootings or stabbings, police have battled 39 robberies since Jan. 1, including six bank heists, he noted.
“We’re up 19 robberies from last year,” he said. “At this point in time we had 20, but we had one of the best cops of all last year-we had those snowstorms.”
As part of an investigation, Cody stated, police in Brooklyn picked up a suspect wanted for four of the bank capers which occurred in Ridgewood and Middle Village in January. Detectives with the NYPD Major Case Squad and the 104th Precinct Detective Squad are continuing to search for the note-carrying crook who held up a Chase bank on Grand Avenue near 69th Place on Feb. 4.
In areas of Maspeth, West Maspeth and western Middle Village patrolled by the 104th Precinct, the captain reported that two robberies, nine felony assaults and seven burglaries have occurred there over the 28-day period which concluded last Sunday, Feb. 12. Even so, Cody noted that police “closed out” a number of incidents with arrests.
Suspects were taken into custody in six of the nine assault cases reported to the precinct, the captain said, including a juvenile who allegedly hit a teacher’s aide who was attempting to break up a fight at a local public school and an individual who attacked a taxi cab driver on the Ridgewood/West Maspeth border.
Through investigations conducted by the precinct’s Anti-Crime Unit, a career criminal was captured for breaking into the Meyer Auto Group site in Middle Village last month, Cody added. He noted that the command increased patrols during daytime hours when most break-ins occur, and that helped reduce the number of burglaries so far in 2012.
“The burglaries started high, but we’re now down five burglaries yearto date,” he said.
Officers have also taken the initiative in battling lesser crimes such as truancy. In one notable case, Cody reported that officers arrested a group of juveniles last Tuesday, Feb. 14, who were caught smoking marijuana while trespassing inside a foreclosed home in Middle Village. The youths were collared following a brief pursuit by police, he added.
“They’re local kids, not bad kids,” he said. “They did a knucklehead move. … They spent the night in jail. I feel bad for the parents. Hopefully they’ll take up stamp collecting or something other than smoking weed.”
The commanding officer also touted the recent arrest of a Long Island man caught using heroin inside his vehicle parked at the corner of the Long Island Expressway and Hamilton Place. Officers from the precinct have also conducted a sting operation during which several stores were cited for allegedly selling alcoholic beverages to minors.
Police have also stepped up efforts to curb excessive noise and quality of life problems related to the Hush lounge on Grand Avenue near 71st Street in Maspeth. Cody reported that the precinct is visiting the location on a weekly basis and has summonsed the management for a variety of State Liquor Authority violations.
Cody also warned residents to be wary of a “con game” being perpetrated through the online classified Craiglist. The scheme involves an advertisement of an apartment for rent in Maspeth and the Jackson Heights/Elmhurst area. The suspect in the scheme entices the prospective tenant to put up a security deposit for the apartment, but disappears with the proceeds before finalizing a lease deal.
In the 104th Precinct’s ongoing war on graffiti, Cody also noted that officers recently arrested an alleged vandal who tagged 16 different locations in Middle Village. He credited local residents for contacting police and cooperating with officers in helping to capture the suspect.
The commanding officer added that the precinct is asking the public’s help in tracking down a man who allegedly flashed a woman and her young child along 58th Street near St. Stanislaus School in Maspeth last Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 14. Cody stated that the Valentine’s Day incident appears to be isolated, but “it’s something that we take very seriously.”
He encouraged anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact police immediately.
Local resident Joann Berger noted that there have been complaints from students at P.S. 73 of a suspicious male inside a vehicle parked near the school who allegedly stares at girls during dismissal hours. Cody stated that those who witness such activity should report it to 911 immediately and provide the operator with a thorough description of the suspect.
The 104th Precinct has also stepped up its efforts to address parking and moving violations, the commander added. He cited a number of recent DWI arrests in the Maspeth are and that numerous trucks and commercial vehicles have been summonsed for illegally parking on the street during overnight hours.
Maspeth resident Tony Nunziato also asked for a greater crackdown on motorized bikes used by juveniles and restaurant deliverymen on area streets. He claimed that many of the operators fail to follow the rules of the road and put many drivers and pedestrians at risk.
“They’re an accident waiting to happen,” he said.
Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) also called for increased efforts to get oversized trucks off of roadways throughout the precinct. He noted that “we’re seeing a lot more 53′ trailers” coming into the area and making local deliveries.
By law, no tractor-trailer greater than 55′ in length “from bumper to bumper” can travel through New York City streets, Holden said. In speaking with several truck drivers using the 53′-long trailers, he claimed, the hauling companies themselves are using them more frequently than smaller trucks to make local deliveries in the five boroughs.
“If you go down Grand Avenue, you can see them regularly coming down,” Holden said. “They’re all over the precinct” and causing damage to roadbeds and curbs near turning points, he added.
Cody stated that the precinct would continue its enforcement efforts and investigate the situation further.
The next COP104 meeting will be held jointly with the Juniper Park Civic Association’s next session on Thursday night, Mar. 8, at 7:45 p.m. at Our Lady of Hope Auditorium, located at Eliot Avenue and 71st Street in Middle Village. For more information, call 1-718-651-5865.
