Chelsea death
The Medical Examiner’s Office determined on Mon. July 24 that the death of a man found at 1:30 p.m. Sat. July 22 in his fourth-floor room in the Chelsea Pines, a hotel at 317 W. 14th St., was homicide.
The victim, Benjamin Cohen, 55, of Brookville, L.I., died of “trauma to the body,” apparently beaten to death. He checked into the hotel with an unidentified man at about 9 p.m. Mon. July 21, according to reports. Police are seeking the man who checked in with the victim.
Soho jewelry heist
Three men, two waving handguns and the other carrying a hammer, stormed into a Soho jewelry store on Monday afternoon, smashed a showcase and fled with jewelry valued at more than $300,000, police said. A few minutes later, two others involved in the robbery as lookouts were arrested in Lower Manhattan, police said.
The three who entered Marisa Perry Atelier, 154 Prince St., shouted, “This is a robbery.” They forced Marisa Perry, a partner, to lie on the floor and held her husband, Douglas Elliott, at gunpoint before fleeing with the merchandise in a car parked at the curb.
Another car with two other men parked at the curb followed and continued west while the first car sped north on Sullivan St. Officers on scooter patrol, Jose Torres and Anthony DiFrancesca, followed the second car and were able to stop it with the help of a patrol car at Greenwich and Murray Sts. They arrested Danjuma Clarke, 21, and Edward Watkins, 24, both of Brooklyn.
The two face charges of robbery, possession of stolen property, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. Police on Tuesday were still seeking the three who fled with the jewelry.
Shot on Lower East Side
Seventh Precinct police responded to a report at 2 a.m. Mon. July 31 of a man shot at the corner of Baruch Pl. at E. Houston St. They found a 17-year-old male with a bullet wound in the chest. Because of his age, police declined to identify the victim, who was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was said to be in stable condition.
Hit-run death
A hit-and-run driver struck and killed a Queens man on Third Ave. at E. 28th St. at about 4 p.m. Tues. July 25, police said. The victim, Eugenio Garcia, of 106-06 Jamaica Ave., Richmond Hill, was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Police said the driver hit the brakes but did not stop and sped north up Third Ave.
West Chelsea clubs
In the wake of the murder on Tues. July 25 of Jennifer Moore, 18, of New Jersey, after a night of drinking in the Guest House, a West Chelsea club at 542 W. 27th St., State Senator Tom Duane this week has called on bar and club operators to pay more attention to the ID of patrons who may be underage.
Duane, who represents the district where clubs and lounges are located with a total capacity of 10,000 patrons, also suggested that clubs install better lighting in order to see ID more clearly and use equipment that can detect phony state ID’s.
Moore’s naked body was found in a trash bin in West New York, N.J., on Wed, July 25. The following day, police arrested a suspect, Draymond Coleman, 34, who was charged with raping and strangling her in a Weehawken, N.J., hotel. Also arrested with Coleman was Krystal Reardon, 20, who was charged with helping Coleman dispose of the body.
Moore had been drinking at the Guest House with a girlfriend who drove them to West Chelsea. She was apparently lured into a cab as she was walking down the West Side Highway after the friend’s car had been towed by police.
Coleman was arrested after police traced several phone calls on Moore’s cell phone, law enforcement officials said.
Albert Amateau
