Senior dies after beating
Joseph Sibilla, 83, who was badly beaten by a burglar he found in his apartment at 31 W. 12th St. when he came home on Friday afternoon April 29, died of his injuries Tues., May 12, in Beth Israel Hospital. Sibilla, whose wife died two years ago, was a member of the Caring Community Senior Center on Washington Square North.
He was returning home from walking his dog when he interrupted an intruder who brutally beat him, stole his wallet and fled, according to reports. Police said a second burglar was in the apartment at the time. Sibilla was found by the cleaning woman the following morning and was taken to Beth Israel.
The beating suspect was described as being in his late 30s, about 5 feet 7 inches and a thin build. The suspect was recorded on a surveillance tape wearing a dark-colored coat, blue jeans and a blue baseball cap.
Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to phone the N.Y.P.D. Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8747). All calls are confidential.
Fatal stabbing
A man found bleeding in front of 190 Stanton St., a treatment center for mentally ill homeless people, around 3 a.m. Wed., May 11, was taken to Beth Israel Hospital where he died a short time later.
The victim had been fighting with a man before the incident, according to neighbors. A police helicopter with searchlights was hovering over Stanton St. near Attorney St. shortly after the incident, and neighbors said they saw a detective pull a knife out of the garbage can near the building around 8:30 a.m.
The victim and the man he was fighting with had only recently moved into the treatment center, according to reports.
Rape suspect busted
Police arrested Joseph Quirindongo, 20, on Fri., May 6, in connection with two sexual knifepoint attacks on teenage girls in the elevators of LaGuardia Houses buildings in April and January. Quirindongo, a Bronx resident, was arrested after a tip to Crime Stoppers in response to photos taken from a video and a sketch released by police last month.
Quirindongo, who has a sealed record of a prior arrest, pulled a knife on a 17-year-old girl in the elevator at 230 Clinton St. on April 14, and said, “You do what I say or I’ll cut your head off.” He dragged her by the hair into a stairwell, according to the complaint filed with the Manhattan district attorney. The suspect got on top of the victim and began pulling at her clothes, but she struggled free and fled, according to the complaint.
The previous incident occurred during the early hours of Jan. 18 when he held a knife to a 19-year-old woman in an elevator in 340 Cherry St., forced her into a stairwell, made her perform oral sex and masturbated after ordering her to lift her skirt, the complaint says.
Phony officers
Two suspects who said they were police officers stopped a man and a woman at 9:56 p.m. Sat., May 7, in front of 136 W. Third St. near MacDougal St., searched the man’s pockets and stole $800. Police soon arrested Vincent Humphrey, 38, and Kevin Richard, 42, and charged them with robbery.
Cold-case arrest
Greg Poirier, 38, currently in prison for groping women he had followed into Manhattan apartment buildings in 2009, was charged on Fri., May 6, with the 2008 attempted rape of a woman whom he had followed into her East Village apartment. Poirier was connected to the cold case after his DNA was matched to the evidence left at the scene of the 2008 attack on the 28-year-old victim. Poirier is currently serving three years for burglary after pleading down from several sex-abuse and forcible-touching charges.
End of the line
Police arrested Ronald Pinnock, 20, and Anthony Rivera, 22, for stealing cell phones from teenage victims on the No. 1 train in the Village and Chelsea. The suspects followed a boy, 14, off the train at 18th St. on Monday night May 2, grabbed the victim’s arms, asked, “Yo, you have a cell phone?” and made off with the phone, police said. They stopped a Brooklyn man, 20, at 9:45 p.m. April 25 on the train at 23rd St. and demanded his cell phone. When the victim refused to give it up, Pinnock said, “We can do this the hard way. We can beat you’re ass,” according to the charges. At 10:45 p.m. April 17 they took a teenager’s BlackBerry at 14th St. and told him, “You will get f—– up if you don’t get off at the next station,” police said.
Catch pickpocket
Transit police arrested James Hunt, 33, around 2:37 a.m. Tues., May 10, in a train at 14th St. at Seventh Ave. and charged him with picking the shirt pocket of a woman passenger and stealing her cell phone. Police said Hunt had a record of several transit system arrests.
Pain in the glass
Police arrested Sheldon Francios, 29, at 6:09 p.m. Tues., May 3, and charged him with malicious mischief for smashing a storefront window at 28 Greenwich Ave. with a brick.
Le Poisson Taser
An argument that broke out at Le Poisson Rouge, the music venue at 158 Bleecker St., at 4:20 a.m. Fri., May 6, ended when Christian Ortiz, 24, zapped his adversary in the back with a Taser, police said. Ortiz was charged with first-degree assault.
Boutique robbers
Two men walked into the Julie Haus boutique at 458 Broome St. at Wooster St., at 2:46 p.m. Sun., May 8, and began taking merchandise off the racks and stuffing it into bags, police said. When an employee confronted them, one of the thieves fled and the other said, “I have AIDS,” and struggled with his challenger, scratching, biting and pulling his hair, police said. The thief finally dropped a dress he was holding and fled. The pair got away with a pair of designer sunglasses but dropped their own cell phones.
Car break-ins
A Jersey City woman who parked her car in the garage of 100 Sixth Ave. at Watts St. at 1:30 a.m. Fri., May 6, returned 20 minutes later to find a window shattered and her bag, iPhone and laptop stolen.
A Staten Island woman, 27, parked her car on King St. at Varick St. at 1:15 a.m. She went to SOB’s, the Brazilian club, a block away. She returned an hour later to find a window broken in the car and her F.D.N.Y. badge, ID and parking placard gone, along with her wallet and $2,000 cash, police said.
Cyclist loses bag
A woman was riding her bicycle past the northwest corner of West Broadway and Spring St. around 2 p.m. Fri., May 6, when her handbag fell off the bike. She stopped to retrieve it but couldn’t find it. A UPS driver nearby told her he saw a man pick it up and run off.
Albert Amateau
