Arrest bunny rustlers
Miss Cooper, the rabbit stolen from the window of the Alexander Bernardi boutique at 174 Prince St. was returned to the First Precinct shortly after midnight Sat., March 17. A homeless friend of the thieves had convinced them to give up the furry Holland Lop rabbit.
The two rustlers, Thomas Smith, 62, and his partner, Andrea Ruggieri, 45 were arrested later on Saturday at a soup kitchen and charged with larceny. Police said they had been wearing cowboy hats, a black one for him and a white one for her, when they snatched Miss Cooper from her front window pen on Wed., March 14. Christopher Kulukundis, owner of the store, told reporters that Smith had come into the shop before to look at the brown and white lop-eared creature, but so did other passersby. Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer-winning journalist, told the Daily News that he always waived to Miss Cooper whenever he passed the window. During her captivity, Miss Cooper was held in a fish tank on a bed of old T-shirts and fed on Apple Jacks, according top reports.
Fake police rob LES victim
Police are looking for two suspects who harassed a victim on the J train platform at Essex and Delancey St. on Feb. 4, then flashed badges, one of them claiming to be a police officer and the other saying he was an Immigration agent. The two imposters, described as being over 50, punched the victim and fled with his wallet.
Indicted for firing at police
Luis Martinez, 25, a resident of the Baruch Houses on the Lower East Side, was indicted on Wed. March 14, on attempted murder charges for firing at two police officers at 1:40 a.m. Mon., Feb 27 as they were patrolling on Columbia St. Martinez, who was arrested in his Baruch Houses apartment, fired several shots, one of which hit the magazine clip that was attached to the belt of officer Thomas Richards The magazine deflected the bullet that would have entered the officer’s abdomen, the indictment says. During the exchange of gunfire, a police bullet hit Martinez in the buttock as he was fleeing.
Elevator robbery
A Lower Manhattan resident told police he had been shopping in the Duane Reade at 67 Broad St. around 7 p.m. Mon., March 12 when he noticed that a stranger was following him home to 54 Stone St. The stranger pushed his way into the elevator, and said, “I have a gun and I’m going to shoot you, Give me your money and phone,” police said. The victim surrendered his phone and the suspect, who did not display a gun, fled.
Park Row arrest
A security guard at J & R Music World, 23 Park Row, saw a suspect take a head phone from a display and conceal it among some handbills he was carrying, police said. Andrew Pintado, 36, was arrested for trying to walk out without pay for the item.
Asleep on the train
A man who fell asleep on a southbound 1 train woke up at 4:40 a.m. Sat., March 10 t the Chambers St. station to find that his pockets had been cut and his keys and $30 in cash had been stolen.
A woman visiting from Los Angeles put her bag on a seat next to her on a southbound C train around noon Fri., March 9 and discovered a few minutes later at the Spring St. station that someone had made off with the bag.
— Albert Amateau
