Police Blotter
No dead body
A Chelsea man, 40, who hooked up with someone he knows only as “Nick” and whom he met online at Manhunt.net, told police on Thurs., Jan. 17 that the new acquaintance had made a false report about a dead body in the victim’s closet. The previous week, two officers paid a visit to the victim’s apartment at 208 W. 20th St. and told him they were following up on the 911 telephone tip about the body. The victim invited the cops to search the apartment, and no body was found. Two days later, Nick phoned the victim and asked, “How was your visit with the police?” The victim gave police Nick’s phone number and said he believes the harasser lives on W. 21st St.
Bank robbed
A man walked into the Wachovia bank branch at 120 Seventh Ave. between W. 17th and W. 18th Sts., on Monday morning Jan. 28, snapped open a cigarette lighter in a teller’s face, and said, “Give me all your money or I’ll start shooting the place up,” police said. The thief, described as a 6’3” black man about 180 pounds and wearing a black leather jacket trimmed with suede or fur, a gray skullcap and black jeans, fled north on Seventh Ave. on foot with $4,000 in a briefcase he was carrying, police said.
Construction site burglaries
Burglars broke into two basement construction sites on W. 20th St. between Eighth and Ninth Aves. on Friday and Saturday last week, police said. They took tools valued at $2,642 on Jan. 25 from the basement of 343 W. 20th St., and on Jan. 26 they took tools valued at $2,000 from the basement of 354 W. 20th St., police said.
Credit card scams
A resident of 520 W. 23rd St. told police on Mon., Jan. 28 that someone managed to make unauthorized charges totaling $6,400 on his credit card since Oct. 31. A resident of 253 W. 16th St. told police on Tues., Jan. 29 that someone had stolen his credit card and made unauthorized charges of $268.74. The card was traced to a Chelsea resident, Hamekaran Ramsaran, 21, who was charged with larceny. The suspect said he would pay for the charges, police said.
Hip-hop plea deal
Busta Rhymes, 35, the hip-hop performer whose real name is Trevor Smith, pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 just before he was to stand trial on two assault charges, one in Chelsea and the other in Lower Manhattan. The plea bargain calls for a sentence of three years probation and 10 days of community service to be imposed on March 18. Busta was arrested in August of last year for assaulting a man who accidentally spit on his car parked on Sixth Ave. at W. 19th St., and he was arrested in December 2006 for assaulting his chauffeur during an argument on W. Broadway at Chambers St. over back pay. He also agreed to pay a $1,510 fine for driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license on Broadway and Warren St. on Feb. 22 of last year. The rapper, who has appeared in films including “Shaft” and “Finding Forrester,” had a 1999 conviction and probation sentence for gun possession.
Fare beater
A cab driver told police that he picked up a couple on Eighth Ave. at W. 14th St. shortly before 5 a.m. Sun., Jan. 27 and, after a stop on E. 26th St. where the man got out and returned a moment later, drove them to the woman’s home on 24th St. at Sixth Ave., where the man presented the driver with a $100 bill for the $13.40 cab ride. The driver had no change, so he drove around with the man to find a place to break the bill. At Seventh Ave. and 22nd St., the driver went into a store to ask about change for $100 but soon ran out to find that the man had ripped the taxi medallion from the hood and was running off with his $100 bill.
Steal sweet smell
A couple of business partners had 212 boxes of perfume bottles valued at $30,000 stored in a locker at Manhattan Mini Storage, 541 W. 29th St. on Fri., Jan. 25, when one of them returned the next day to find the boxes had been stolen, police said.
Resisting arrest
Two 10th Precinct officers responded to a call at 9:35 a.m. Sun., Jan. 27 about a trespasser on Pier 57 at 16th St. A man who was inside the fence between the pier and the Hudson River Park promenade refused an order to leave the pier, police said, so they went in and brought him out. Just outside the fence, police said, the suspect pushed one of the cops and a scuffle ensued during which the suspect, Che Aroiris, 24, sustained a cut on the cheek. H was charged with resisting arrest.
— By Albert Amateau
