By Steve Mosco
Two men were found dead in unrelated incidents in Queens last Thursday, according to police.
Cops said the lacerated body of Thomas Dudley, 21, of Brooklyn, was discovered at 4:30 a.m. by city Parks Department employees in a parking lot adjacent to the Seuffert Bandshell in Woodhaven’s Forest Park.
Initially police said the man was found with cuts to his wrist and his death was not listed as a homicide. But later that day, cops said the man’s throat had been slit and the death was under investigation.
The man’s body was found face down in the parking lot surrounded by massive piles of trees and debris that the Parks Department had placed there during the cleanup following Hurricane Sandy, cops said.
Police said a precise time of death was not established and authorities also think the man might have been the victim of a drug deal gone bad, although the investigation is ongoing.
In a different Queens park, about 12 miles away in Far Rockaway, another man’s body was found at 9:30 a.m. on a beach at the boardwalk near Beach 13th Street, police said. According to the NYPD, the man’s body was found with gunshot wounds to the head.
Police said there does not appear to be a connection between the two deaths.
The Far Rockaway death comes at a time when the police presence remains at heightened levels. According to a post-storm report by the NYPD, the department has deployed 500 light towers in neighborhoods without electricity, including Far Rockaway.
Storm-impacted areas also see regular police car and helicopter patrols, with the choppers using spotlights to illuminate darkened areas.
Also according to the NYPD report, crime was down or flat in all categories citywide, with the exception of burglary, which was up 2 percent compared to the same week last year.
Extra police on extended tours of duty are still assigned to the Rockaways and Breezy Point as well as Coney Island and Staten Island.
Reach reporter Steve Mosco by e-mail at smosco@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4546.
