Dropped the baby
A woman stopped two Sixth Precinct police officers on patrol in the West Village around 11 p.m. Wed., July 27, and pleaded for their help. She said she saw a drunken woman who had dropped an infant on the floor of a nearby restaurant. The distraught informant said the woman was now trying to get into a cab with the baby. “Please, you’ve got to help,” she said. The informant’s boyfriend said the woman had dropped the baby on the floor in Meme, a restaurant at 581 Hudson St. between Bank and W. 11th Sts. Police found Karolyn Massey, 38, trying to get into a cab with her 5-month-old daughter at the corner of Hudson and W. 14th Sts. Massey was charged with assault.
Mugging arrest Two suspects came up to a Connecticut woman sitting on a stoop at 71 E. 11th St. near Broadway and talking on her cell phone around 10 p.m. Fri., July 29. They punched her in the face grabbed her cell phone and fled. But police arrested two suspects, Luis Geraldo, 28, and Erik Blandon, 27, on E. 13th St. between Third and Second Aves. They were observed passing the stolen cell phone back and forth between them. The victim identified them in a lineup, police said.
Up against the wall A Queens man, 26, told police he was walking on the southwest corner of W. Fourth and W. 10th Sts. in Greenwich Village around 4 a.m. Sat., July 30, when a mugger pushed him face forward into a wall and removed his backpack. Police later arrested James Lawrence, 47, who was in possession of the victim’s cell phone, and charged him with robbery.
Brutalized bar employee An employee, 42, of Tenjune, 26 Little W. 12th St., was busing tables in the club around 1:15 a.m. Thurs., July 28, and said, “Excuse me,” as he walked past a patron. The patron snarled, “Shut the f— up,” and punched the victim in the face. Police said the victim tried to escape the blows but the suspect repeatedly punched him. Tallal Bin Tallat, 25, was arrested and charged with assault.
Chinatown jewelry theft Police arrested Osborne Davis, 47, last week and charged him with stealing a tray of 72 rings selling for $15 each from a store at 240 Canal at 12:45 p.m. Mon., July 25. The owner’s wife also told police that she was working in the shop around 8:25 p.m. on June 4 when she saw Davis lifting four handbags from a display rack and making off with them, according to the complaint filed with the Manhattan district attorney. Davis was identified in a New York Post item as having served prison terms on previous assault and robbery convictions.
High anxiety Construction workers on a scaffold at the 11th floor of 12 E. 22nd St. at 12:45 p.m. Wed., July 27, were surprised by a man who opened his window, pointed a gun at them and told them to get away. Police responded but the resident of Apt. 11C, identified as Kenneth Clarfield, 69, refused to admit them until 3:35 p.m. when he surrendered without incident. Police had posted snipers on nearby rooftops and blocked the street while Emergency Service Unit officers and hostage negotiators talked to Clarfield through the door. Clarfield, a neighborhood resident for 30 years, rarely left his apartment, and when he did, often sat on a fire hydrant on the block.
Spell-challenged robber Police arrested George Palazzolo, 53, on Sat., July 16, and charged him with trying to rob the Bank of America branch at 72 Second Ave. at E. Fourth St. around 10:33 a.m. Mon. July 11. Palazzolo passed a teller a note that said, “Please don’t cause any trouble. No cops. Give me $100, $50, $20. Don’t put any dye pack in the bag or else! Don’t hit any alarm botten [sic].”
The teller didn’t give anything to the suspect, who fled.
Soho shoplifters A man and a woman who walked into the Free People boutique at 99 Spring St. near Mercer St. around 7 p.m. Fri., July 29, managed to take 10 tank tops, eight maxi dresses and 10 pairs of skinny jeans, with a total value of $2,552, and walk away without paying for them, police said.
Police arrested a man running out of the Prince St. subway station on Broadway around 4:17 p.m. Thurs., July 28, and charged him with stealing 10 pairs of jeans from the Lucky Brand boutique at 535 Broadway. The suspect told police that he was headed to the Guess boutique across the street.
80 years for Taz slay Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Richard D. Carruthers last week sentenced Louis Rodriguez to 80 years in prison for the August 23, 2009, murder of Eric Pagan, 42, a longtime East Village resident known as Taz. The victim was a bouncer at Forbidden City lounge on Avenue A near 13th St. and stepped out to stop a fight when Rodriguez, who had wounded two other victims, shot him. Rodriguez, a drug dealer, was arrested the following day and was convicted after a trial this June. A portrait in homage to Taz is painted on an Avenue A storefront between 13th and 14th Sts.
‘Card’ pushers plead Thomas Zenon, 41, and Miguel Guzman, 43, who advertised their pot and cocaine wares by slipping business cards into free newspapers in the East Village, Lower East Side and Tribeca, pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to sale of controlled substances. They are expected to receive four years in prison and three years probation when they are sentenced Aug. 22. The business cards, offering “Coca Cola” and “Purple Rain: Up in Smoke,” were recovered in a New York University dorm at Third Ave. and 10th St. and in a Tribeca apartment tower.
Busted with Oxy pills Transit police roused a man lying across a couple of seats on an A train in the Eighth Ave. subway station at W. 14th St. shortly before 1 a.m. Sat., July 16, and discovered he had 40 tablets of Oxycodone in a prescription not in his name. The suspect, Arnold Clarke, 31, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. Oxycodone is an opium derivative with the narcotic effect of morphine that may be taken orally, snorted or smoked.
Albert Amateau
