Alliance worker killed
A member of the Downtown Alliance’s sanitation unit who was knocked to the pavement in a fight while on duty on Nov. 7 died a week later of his injuries, police said.
The victim, Robert Monroe, 46, got into a fight in front of 90 John St. at the corner of Gold St. and hit his head on the sidewalk when he fell, according to police.
He was taken unconscious to New York Downtown Hospital where he died on Nov. 13. The Medical Examiner’s office ruled on Nov. 14 that Monroe’s death was a homicide.
First Precinct detectives are investigating the circumstances of the case but there was no arrest as of Nov. 19. One police source indicated that the man involved in the fight with Monroe was an acquaintance and might have been a former Downtown Alliance worker, but other police sources did not confirm that.
Monroe, who resided in East Harlem, joined the Alliance’s sanitation unit in August 2005. Liz Berger, president of the Alliance, said in a statement that Monroe did his work efficiently and effectively. “Our condolences are with Mr. Monroe’s family. He will be missed,” Berger said.
Female mugging arrest
A resident of Greene St. near Canal told police she was walking home at 11:40 p.m. Tues. Nov. 11 when one of two women grabbed her in a chokehold. The accomplice said, “I have a knife, just give up the purse,” took $140 from the victim’s purse and both suspects fled, according to police. However, the victim ran after them, caught up with the woman who had taken her money and demanded it back. Police say the suspect punched the victim before they arrived. They arrested Hannibal Ebony, 18, and charged her with robbery. The other woman was not apprehended.
Train robbery
A Brooklyn man on a southbound express train at Chambers St. had his cell phone snatched shortly after noon on Tues., Nov. 18 by a man getting off the train, police said. The victim followed, flagged a transit employee and confronted the suspect at the north end of the platform. The suspect said, “I’m going to shoot you,” and grappled with victim. A gun fell out of the suspect’s pocket in the struggle and he fled, police said.
Grand St. burglary
An 81-year-old resident of 66 Grand St. near W. Broadway left his apartment for a couple of hours on Tuesday morning Nov. 18 and returned to discover that the sheet rock wall next to his apartment door was broken and two laptop computers and jewelry valued at $7,000 had been stolen from the bedroom, police said.
Beating at bar
A Brooklyn man, 19, walking out of the Hooks and Ladder bar at 133 John St. near Water St. at 2 a.m. Sat., Nov. 8 was punched in the back of his head by a stranger who then picked up a leg of a wooden police barrier and repeatedly hit the victim over head with it, police said. Friends took the victim to Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn where he was treated for multiple skull and facial fractures.
Beaver St. assault
A resident of the John Heuss homeless shelter at 42 Beaver St. told police a stranger assaulted in front of the place at 8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 15. The suspect hit him in the back of the head with a bottle and fled, police said. The victim sustained a minor injury.
Laptop thefts
Police arrested Qualik Wilson, 34, on Thurs., Nov. 14 and charged him with stealing two laptop computers from the Equinox fitness club at 54 Murray St. where he worked as a janitor. Wilson, of the Bronx, was recorded on the club’s surveillance cameras at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 stealing the computers, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
Getaway car
A driver from Queens stopped at the southwest corner of Albany and West Sts. at 11 p.m. Fri., Nov. 7, left the key in the ignition and the door open and went across the street to get some food from a vendor, police said. He turned around in time to see someone get in his car and drive it off.
Shop lift
The owner of Patina, a boutique at 451 Broome St. at Mercer St., told police on Nov. 18 that a stranger had walked into her shop at 6 p.m. on Oct. 28 and made off with a Gucci shoulder bag, a silver necklace and three coats with a total value of $3,075. She said she ran after the thief but failed to catch him. She did not say why she delayed reporting the incident.
Gas trader pleads
David Lee, 37, pleaded guilty on Nov. 13 to falsifying records of his natural gas trades for the Bank of Montreal in the bank’s Lower Manhattan office. The falsification resulted losses of more than $800 million, according to District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.
From May 2003 to April 2007, Lee overstated the value of his natural gas derivatives trades to enhance his job performance bonus compensation from the bank and to hide his trading losses, according to the charges. As part of his guilty plea, Lee agreed to forfeit up to $4.1 million as proceeds in the scheme. At the same time, Lee pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy, wire fraud, making false bank entries and obstructing federal regulatory investigation charges.
Charity swindle
The Manhattan District Attorney charged five individuals and their printing companies with stealing more than $1 million from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in a phony invoice scam. One defendant, Harold Chayefsky, a print broker, was charged with submitting false invoices from his company, Wintry Press, of 175 Varick St. near King St., to the foundation’s magazine, which Jonathan Stenger, the lead defendant, edited. Another defendant, James Wawrzewski, of 2 Charlton St. in the Village, was charged with submitting false invoices from his company Cobalt Design Group, of 333 Hudson St. to the magazine that Stenger edited as an employee of the foundation.
Punched in park
A boy, 13, told a Battery Park City PEP officer that he was playing basketball in Rockefeller Park at 4:20 p.m. Mon. Nov. 3 when another player punched him in the head. Officers canvassed the park but did not find the suspect.
Ruff play
A Battery Park City woman complained that an aggressive golden retriever attacked her smaller dog three times in the dog run during October. She said the owner, a resident of 325 North End Ave., did not restrain the retriever and she has filed a complaint against the owner.
Another woman told PEP officers that an aggressive white terrier had attacked her dog in the run on Nov. 11 and that she previously had seen the terrier’s owner pick up another dog and slam it on the ground. Two PEP officers spoke to the terrier owner and he left the dog run, according to park reports.
— Albert Amateau
