By Thomas Tracy
Grime-busting students from Roy H. Mann Intermediate School were honored last week with City Council citations and hearty applause. At Community Board 18’s monthly meeting, Councilmember Lew Fidler presented the students with certificates, and board members were treated to a video presentation by the Bergen Beach Youth Organization showcasing students’ efforts. About 20 students from the school, located at 1420 East 68th Street, remove graffiti on local buildings twice a week, as part of the program. The students are also working on creating a mural in the community. “These young men and women have real values—and certainly it is value added to our neighborhood,” Fidler said. By Thomas Tracy HELP FIND MISSING TEEN: Police are asking the community for help in their search for a 16-year-old teen last seen at Brookdale Hospital. Police said that Jessica Williams has been missing since 6:50 p.m. on June 4. Cops describe Williams as having a mental illness and in need of medication. Williams is described as a 5’5”, 116-pound black female with a think build, black hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing blue jeans, a white and pink T-shirt and black sandals. She was sporting a navy blue book bag. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding her whereabouts to call the NYPD’s missing person squad at (212) 473-2042 or the NYPD Crimestoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. *** SHOT AT HOUSE PARTY: A man was rushed to the hospital last week after he was shot in the stomach during a tumultuous house party. Police said that they are currently looking for the shooter. Officials said that the victim was inside a house on East 94th Street between Avenues L and M at about 2 a.m. on June 19 when an unidentified man opened fire. The victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was listed in stable condition after treatment. Witnesses told police that the gunman fled the scene on foot. Anyone with information is urged to contact authorities at (718) 257-6211. All calls will be kept confidential. *** CANARSIE MAN CONNECTED TO CHUCK-E-CHEESE STABBING: An East 108th Street man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing another man during a brawl inside a downtown Brooklyn Chuck-E-Cheese restaurant/arcade. Police said that Negron Banks, 28, allegedly stabbed a man who was breaking up an assault between two families when some Saturday night revelry at the chain franchise, located at 139 Flatbush Avenue, turned sour. Witnesses told police that the brawl began when two children started fighting each other, said police. The two families soon became involved and a brawl between the adults broke out, officials said. As one of the men tried to break up the fight, Banks allegedly struck him in the head and stab him with a sharp object. The victim was taken to an area hospital where he was listed in stable condition. The attack, officials said, took place at 8:34 p.m. on June 18. A short time later, Negron was arrested, charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon. *** COPS: LET US KNOW ABOUT FIREWORKS: Once again, the NYPD will be operating with a zero tolerance attitude toward fireworks, no matter how pretty they look in the sky. Anybody caught using fireworks will be arrested and the fireworks will be confiscated. Police constantly tell parents that they may think they’re doing their kid a favor when you purchase fireworks for them, but just the opposite is true. The cost of fireworks is relatively cheap, but the bill can add up when somebody winds up in the emergency room. There are too many stories about children being seriously injured by fireworks to refute the simple truth that fireworks are dangerous. If you think the police are overreacting, all you have to do is talk to the 12-year-old boy, whom while celebrating his team’s basketball championship lost an eye when he and his friends set off fireworks, officials said. One can also hear about the seven-year-old boy who lost half his left hand when he ignited an M-80 firework he found hidden in a family bedroom, they added. While fireworks are part of the Fourth of July experience, residents and their children should enjoy the work of trained professionals who put on fireworks shows around the city, police contend. Cops have already begun their anti-firework campaign, knowing that most dealers are already driving down south to purchase huge supplies of explosives that they can sell up here before Independence Day. Those who hear about someone who is selling or dealing fireworks should call a special tip line at (800) 347-3847. *** SHOT IN PARKING LOT: A Queens man was rushed to Brookdale Hospital after he was shot in the leg at the Breukelen Houses, officials said. As of this writing, investigators from the 69th Precinct were continuing their search for the shooter, who remains unidentified. The motive behind the attack remains unclear, according to police. Officials said that the victim was waiting in a parking lot between 619 and 659 East 108th Street when an unidentified suspect opened fire from a 9-mm pistol. The bullet ripped through the victim’s leg, said officials. At Brookdale, the victim was treated and released. Police said that the shooting took place just after midnight on June 9. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward. Tipsters could receive up to $2,000 for information that leads to the shooter’s arrest and indictment. Calls can be made to either the 69th Precinct detective squad at (718) 257-6215 or the NYPD Crimestoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. *** COPS: HELP CLEAN UP GRAFFITI WHILE EARNING SOME GREEN: As the ongoing war against graffiti vandals continues, cops are now offering up to $500 in reward money to anyone who can offer them information that can lead them to anyone who commits graffiti vandalism. The hefty reward is part of the city’s new push to rid New York of graffiti vandals. Graffiti is one of the leading quality of life complaints brought to police. Officials said that cleaning up graffiti is essential to the plan, to show that the community is no longer going to tolerate marred and tagged-up walls and street corners. According to police there is a perception that if a community will tolerate graffiti, they will tolerate other criminal activities, such as drug dealing and prostitution. Anyone with information about graffiti vandalism is urged to contact either 311 or 911. *** GONE FOR 60 YEARS: A 42-year-old man with a long criminal history was arrested, once again, by police when he was spotted allegedly attempting to steal a car outside 250 Clarkson Avenue Sunday morning. Police said that the suspect, identified as Troy Pearson, was nabbed in the early morning hours of June 19 after allegedly being spotted jimmying a lock of car parked on the East Flatbush block. Police Officer Michael Dwyer was credited with the arrest. Cops said that Pearson had 31 prior arrests. Nine of the arrests were for grand larceny of an auto. *** CAR, DRIVER SOUGHT IN HIT AND RUN: A red-colored Suzuki with Connecticut plates is being sought for a near fatal hit and run in Borough Park last week, officials said. Police said that the victim, a 70-year-old man, was crossing near the corner of 12th Avenue and 49th Street at 6:30 p.m. on June 16 when the Suzuki sped through the intersection. The car struck the senior, who was “blasted” into the air and back across the intersection, officials said. The victim was rushed to Lutheran Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition. Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward. Tipsters could receive up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of those responsible. Calls can be made to the NYPD Crimestoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential. *** COPS CRACK ROBBERY RING: A robbery crew that preyed upon people walking along Flatbush Avenue was cracked wide open with the arrest of three men. Michael Barnwell, Freddy Patrice and Jermall Lapaix were charged with multiple counts of robbery after they were taken into custody on June 13. Sources said that the suspects were taken into custody after cops found their alleged “base of operations” – a home on the 5100 block of Snyder Avenue. The belongings of several robbery victims were found inside the home, along with a .380 caliber pistol and several stolen credit cards officials alleged. Sources alleged that Barnwell and his crew would mostly use “strong-arm” tactics to rob women of their purses and belongings as they walked up and down Church Avenue. Sometimes the suspects allegedly used a gun or a knife, officials said. As of this writing, Barnwell was charged with three counts of robbery. Patrice and Lapaix had been each charged with one count of robbery. Police said that these holdups took place in the last two weeks. *** LONG ARM OF THE LAW STRETCHES THROUGH TIME: A 25-year-old man was arrested for assault charges last week – almost a year after he allegedly engaged in the attack, officials said. Police said that Nkofi Nobel, was taken into custody on June 19 charged with assault and attempted robbery for an alleged robbery that took place on June 22, 2004. Officials said that Nobel allegedly attacked a woman and her boyfriend during a failed robbery attempt on Utica Avenue. The victims reported the attack, but cops never found Nobel. Last week, the victims saw Nobel at the corner of Church and Utica avenues and called police, who picked Nobel up without incident. Investigators from the 67th Precinct trekked to New Jersey in order to arrest the prime suspect in a brutal anti-gay attack that left the victim in a coma, police said. As of this writing, Steve Pomie, 22, of 270 East 95th Street, was expected to be extradited from Seaside Heights, New Jersey, to Brooklyn, where he will face assault and hate crime charges, officials from the Kings County District Attorney’s office said. Pomie and two other men are accused of jumping and beating a 26-year-old gay man outside the victim’s home on East 94th Street near the corner of Kings Highway at 11:50 p.m. on June 9. According to witnesses, the victim was throwing out his garbage when Pomie and his accomplices – who police believe that he knew – rolled toward him in a dark-colored sedan, exited and started hurling anti-gay epithets at him without any provocation. They then lunged at the victim, knocking him to the ground and repeatedly punching and kicking him, said officials. As stunned witnesses called 911, the trio jumped back into the sedan and fled. The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital where he lapsed into a coma. Doctors have listed him in critical yet stable condition with severe blunt trauma injuries to the head. Cops publicly identified Pomie as an attacker sought in the assault a few days later. Working off a tip, detectives and members of the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force tracked Pomie to Seaside Heights, where he and another man were arrested on June 16. Sources said that the second man was not connected to the bias attack. Pomie, who reportedly runs an East Flatbush drug crew and may have connections to the Bloods, fled to New Jersey after learning that police were circulating his picture. Pomie has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the second degree, as a hate crime, assault in the third degree as a hate crime, menacing in the third degree, menacing in the third degree as a hate crime and harassment in the second degree. Officials from the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force are searching for remaining two assailants. “This kind of crime cannot be tolerated,” said Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes. “That’s why the NYPD and my office moved quickly to assure that this suspect was brought to justice.” Members of the borough’s Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community hailed the arrest. “We have no doubt that the high visibility of the case and the willingness of the community to engage and work to help on this case was a factor in Pomie's arrest,” said Clarence Patton, the Anti-Violence Project’s Acting Executive Director. Members of the Anti-Violence Project joined the search for Pomie by circulating his picture throughout the neighborhood and encouraging more witnesses to come forward. “As we said immediately after the attack was made public, this was a case the community could indeed help solve,” Patton continued. “Now we can only hope that Pomie will finally do the right thing and name his accomplices in this heinous and hateful attack.” “Though what happened to Pomie was more vicious than most anti-gay attacks in New York, it is not uncommon enough,” Patton explained. “Every twelve hours we get a report of some anti-LGTB incident in the City, and every 36 hours, we receive a report of an anti-LGTB assault.” “As the weather warms and more people are on the streets in general, reports of anti-LGTB activity almost always rise,” he said. The arrest came just days before the NYPD announced that hate crimes against homosexuals had increased 32 percent this year when compared to incidents in 2004, Police said that, as of June 17 there have been nineteen bias attacks against homosexuals – six more than the thirteen incidents that took place over the same period last year.
