Say Alleged Drug Dealer’s Also A Vandal
Pinched for allegedly attempting to sell drugs to an undercover police officer near a Glendale school last Wednesday, Aug. 8, an Ozone Park man was later additionally booked on charges that he painted graffiti tags on buildings around the confines of the 104th Precinct, law enforcement sources said.
The suspect was identified by police as 20-year-old Humberto Munoz of 93rd Street.
Reportedly, Munoz was busted by 104th Precinct officers in the vicinity of 60th Street and Cooper Avenue, a short distance from P.S. 68, at around 12:40 a.m. last Wednesday.
According to information provided by the Queens District Attor- ney’s office, Munoz made arrangements via cell phone with a prospective buyer-who turned out to be an undercover police officer-to meet and sell him a quantity of ecstacy pills.
Upon arriving at the location, authorities stated, the suspect was allegedly observed by another officer throwing a small plastic bag containing a white substance to the ground; Munoz was collared shortly thereafter.
Police reportedly examined the substance and determined it to ecstacy pills.
Munoz was initially charged with two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Following his arrest, law enforcement sources said, police obtained information linking Munoz to several graffiti incidents reported to the 104th Precinct earlier this year.
According to the criminal complaint, officers found a photo on the suspect’s Facebook page of a tag written in blue and white spray paint on a building located on Liberty Avenue near 112th Street in Richmond Hill on May 7.
The same tag had been reportedly found painted in blue or white paint on several buildings within the 104th Precinct’s confines in May and July of this year. Photos of the vandalism were taken and brought to the 104th Precinct for its graffiti database.
Among the locations hit were the following:
– an abandoned building at the corner of Fresh Pond Road and Metropolitan Avenue on the Ridgewood/ Middle Village border;
– a building located at the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and 62nd Street in Middle Village;
– a home on Decatur Street between Seneca and Forest avenues in Ridgewood; and
– an abandoned building in the vicinity of Cypress Avenue and Clover Place in Glendale.
Authorities also learned that the same tag was also painted in purple spray paint on the roll down gate of a beauty salon on Atlantic Avenue near 75th Street in Woodhaven.
As a result of their investigation, Munoz was additionally charged with six counts of making graffiti and six counts of criminal mischief, police said.
Court records indicated that the suspect was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court last Thursday, Aug. 9, before Judge Lenora Gerald who ordered him held on $10,000 bail. Munoz is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 28.
