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Flushing man arrested after scuffle with police

By Chris Fuchs

After a brief scuffle with two police officers, during which one of their revolvers fired, an 18-year-old man wanted in connection with a shooting last year was arrested Monday night in the lobby of a housing project in downtown Flushing, the police said.

The incident happened around 8:10 p.m. in the lobby of the Bland Houses, on Roosevelt Avenue near Prince Street, said Detective Madelyne Galindo, a police spokeswoman.

Two police officers from the Housing Authority saw the man, Carlos Senquiz, who was accused of taking part in a shooting in October, in the lobby of the apartment building, at 133-50 Roosevelt Ave., where he lives, she said. When they tried to arrest him, Galindo said, he resisted and grabbed the service revolver of one of the officers, causing it to fire once.

None of the officers were injured, but Senquiz was taken to Queens General Hospital for minor injuries caused by being maced, the detective said. Senquiz, 18, was charged with attempted murder and resisting arrest, Galindo said.

It was unclear whether the police were executing a search warrant for Senquiz’s arrest in connection with a shooting that the police said occurred in October. Efforts to locate an arrest record for Senquiz on such a charge were unsuccessful.

But a spokeswoman in the Queens district attorney’s office said a search revealed that Senquiz has a criminal record, including arrests for burglary and drug possession.

Standing in the rain Monday night, half a dozen residents of the apartment building took issue with the account given by police that Senquiz grabbed an officer’s revolver.

Jose Robles, who said he was standing in the lobby at the time of the incident, said that during the scuffle, one of the officers dropped his weapon and Senquiz fell on top of it as they attempted to arrest him.

Robles said one of the officers shouted, “He’s got my gun,” and then he heard one shot. “They picked him up and he was keeled over,” Robles said. “He looked like he was hit.”

Robles said the police officers pointed their gun at him, ordering him to return to his apartment on the second floor. Other residents of the building, who did not give their names, and Robles said they saw the officers hurriedly take Senquiz to a police van on Roosevelt Avenue, striking him with portable radios.

Lt. Elias Nikas, a police spokesman, would not comment on that specific allegation.

Hours after the incident, police officers from the Housing Authority and the New York City Police Department remained at the apartment building, cordoning off the lobby as a crime scene. Three vehicles with official license plates and several emergency crews from the Housing Authority arrived well after the arrest was made.

Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at [email protected] or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.