Fatal Attraction

What the hell?

From NBC:

A 52-year-old day care worker allegedly stabbed five people, including three baby girls no more than a month old, at an overnight facility in Queens early Friday, and cops say they found a butcher knife and meat cleaver at the scene.

A 3-day-old girl and a 1-month-old girl were stabbed in the stomach; a 20-day-old girl had a laceration to her ear, chin and lip. All are in critical but stable condition, authorities said. Two other people, a father of a child at the day care and another woman who worked there, were also stabbed at the Flushing center just before 4 a.m. Friday. The woman was stabbed eight times.

Police say the 52-year-old woman was found unconscious on the basement floor of the day care center on 161st Street with her left wrist slashed in what police say was a self-inflicted wound. She is in police custody at an area hospital.

Bad stuff happening in Queens parks lately

From A Walk in the Park:

Four males were slashed with razors inside Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

Four men were sitting on a bench inside the park at 11 p.m. on November 4th, when a group of male Hispanics on bikes approached and began cursing.

Two assailants got off the bikes and pulled razors. One slashed a 41-year-old victim in his hand who was on a cell phone causing him to drop the phone.

The attackers picked it up and when the victim's friends protested, the two attackers slashed his three friends as well.

The victims were all male 41 (phone stolen) 28, 28, and 26.

The incident occurred in the park near northeast corner of 49th Avenue and 111th Street within the confines of the 110 Pct.

Police apprehended the suspects on bikes nearby a few hours later at 2:30 a.m. on November 5th.

From A Walk in the Park:

A walk in the park turned into a nightmare for an Asian husband and wife this week when they were mugged in Kissena Corridor Park.

The couple, male, 34, and female, 31 were in the park near 45 Avenue & Colden St. at 8:50pm when they were approached from behind by two assailants in black wearing masks.

One punched the female in the back of the head causing her to fall on the ground. While she was on the floor one held the husband and twisted his arm behind his back and removed $ 50 from the victim's pants pockets.

The perps fled southbound on Colden St. according to police.

From the Daily News:

A Queens man was found dead in a park, cops said Saturday.

The man was found in Forest Park on Myrtle Ave. near Woodhaven Blvd in Kew Gardens on Friday night around 10 p.m., cops said. He was unconscious and unresponsive.

A city Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

Lots of murder happening in Flushing lately

From the Times Ledger:

A 51-year-old man shot his girlfriend in downtown Flushing Monday afternoon before turning the gun on himself, police said.

Xie Bin, of Flushing, shot Ya Ling Meng, 46, in the head and then killed himself in front of a Chinese restaurant on 41st Avenue, near bustling Main Street in broad daylight, according to the NYPD.

Responding authorities arrived at the scene just after 5:30 p.m. and found the two lying on the sidewalk, police said.

From the Times Ledger:

The burned bodies of three unidentified people were found with their throats slashed after a fire at a Flushing apartment building early Tuesday morning, police said.

Authorities responded to a fire in the Roosevelt Avenue building at around 4:50 a.m. and found the three bodies with severe burns in the living room of an apartment, according to the NYPD.

A man walked into McDonald's with a knife in his back

From WPIX:

A man calmly walked into a Queens McDonald’s with a knife sticking out of his back Tuesday morning, apparently after an earlier altercation outside.

According to police, the 50-year-old man walked into the McDonald’s on Sutphin Boulevard at about 10 a.m.

While patrons were screaming at the site of the bloody knife between the man’s shoulder blades, the victim was talking on his cellphone calmly, telling his family what happened.

Cops told PIX11 the man was involved in a fight on Sutphin Boulevard with two men minutes before he walked into the fast food eatery.

Illegal alien gang bangers pinched by the Feds

From the Wave:

Twenty-five members of the vicious La Maria Salvatrucha (MS-13) South American street gang were indicted this week in federal court in Islip, Long Island, charged with 70 counts of murder, including the death of Mario Alberto Canton Quijada, 25, of Beach Channel Drive, who was found dead with multiple stab wounds on Beach 12 Street in Far Rockaway on March 17 last year.

Two of the men facing federal trial are Roger Alvarado of Queens and Heriberto Martinez of Central Avenue in Far Rockaway. Those two, along with a third, unindicted man, were found on the beach by police. Police say that uniformed officers on patrol on the boardwalk at about 12:34 a.m. on March 17, 2010, spotted three young men on the beach.

The cops went down on the sand to investigate the three and found Quijada with multiple stab wounds to his body.

An ambulance was called and EMS workers declared him dead at the scene.

The three men on the beach with the body were taken into custody and transported to the 101 Precinct in Far Rockaway for questioning.

At the time, local sources conjectured that the murder may have been the result of a fight between rival gang members.

The three men were arrested and transported to Queens Criminal Court for booking.

The three were identified by police as Diego Marroquin, 19, of Mott Avenue; Heriberto Martinez, 23, of Central Avenue and Roger Alvarado, 30, of Queens.

Marroquin and Martinez were charged in Queens Criminal Court with murder and criminal possession of a weapon.

State charges against Alvarado were brought later on, according to court sources.

Martinez is charged in the federal indictment with not only the murder of Quijada, but with an earlier murder in Central Islip (Long Island) in which a woman and her two-year-old son were shot and left in a secluded wooded area on the island.

All of the men are charged with a series of violent crimes, including attempted murder, conspiracy to murder rival gang members and assaults that left a number of people badly injured.

Court documents say that MS-13 is a violent street gang, made up primarily of illegal immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Artist arrested for legally carrying knife

From the Daily News:

Manhattan artist John Copeland has carried a pocket knife since he was a boy.

That was until October, when the noted painter was busted on weapons possession charges for having an illegal gravity knife in his pocket as he walked home at about 3 p.m. along E. 3rd St.

A judge Wednesday tossed the charges - for which Copeland, 34, faced up to a year behind bars - after his lawyer explained to prosecutors he used it to cut canvases. Still, the artist is fuming.

An illegal gravity knife is a folding knife that can be opened, and locked open, with the flick of the wrist. Copeland said he once asked a detective if the knife he carried, a Benchmade Mini-Ambush, was legal.

"[He] tried to flip it open and wasn't able to," Copeland said.

Kuby said Copeland has no criminal history and didn't threaten to use it as a weapon but that cops descended on him after spotting what they thought was a knife in his front pants' pocket.

They're even killing out-of-towners!

From NY1:

A Florida man died after he was stabbed by a Queens nightclub early Sunday.

Police say the 26-year-old victim was involved in a dispute with someone inside Club Tropical on Northern Boulevard in Long Island City. The altercation spilled out onto the street.

The man was stabbed in the torso, but it was unclear whether he was stabbed inside the club or on the street.

The victim was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

By Sunday evening, no arrests had been made and the investigation was ongoing.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.

Ozone Park baby shower stabbing

From the NY Post:

A group of men attending a late-night Queens baby shower dragged a food deliveryman out of his car, broke a bottle over his head and stabbed him -- all because he was honking his horn to get them to move their double-parked cars, authorities said yesterday.

The deliveryman, whose name and place of work were withheld by police, found himself blocked by cars double-parked three deep in front of the host's home on 126th Street in Ozone Park at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

After he honked his horn, between five and 10 men rushed his car and pulled him out, and one of them stuck a knife in his right side.

The deliveryman was listed in stable condition last night at Jamaica Hospital.

Men with knives attend late night baby showers in Ozone Park? What a different world I live in.

Homeless lunatic stabs 3 people

From the NY Post:

A deranged homeless man went on a slashing spree in Queens last night -- knifing three victims at three different locations, cops said.

The first attack occurred at Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike when the 48-year-old brute used a box-cutter to slice a 54-year-old man, officials said.

Then, around 10:50 p.m., the suspect wounded a 49-year-old man at Austin Street and 72nd Road in Forest Hills.

Five minutes later, another man was cut while waiting on the subway platform, waiting for a Manhattan-bound train at the 71st Avenue-Continental Avenue station.

All three victims were taken to local hospitals with minor wounds.

The suspect was taken for a psychiatric evaluation.

Thugs murder man defending brother

From the NY Post:

A Queens man was stabbed in the heart last night while trying to rescue his little brother from a group of knife wielding thugs on a J train platform.

Dario Paiva, 27, raced to his brother Khristian’s side after the younger man was beset by four attackers near the 85th Street-Forest Parkway station, only to meet his doom.

The Woodhaven man was fatally stabbed around 11:30 p.m. after confronting his brother’s attackers on the subway platform. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Jamaica Hospital. No arrests have been made.

He went a little ga ga...

From the NY Post:

A Lady Gaga fan was sexually abused while waiting on line for the singer's performance in Rockefeller Plaza, police sources said yesterday.

Jesus Romano, 38, of Queens allegedly unbuttoned his pants and rubbed against the 19-year-old woman while she was waiting to see Gaga perform on NBC's "Today Show" at 8 a.m. Friday.

The victim turned around and videotaped the man before alerting police.

Cops arrested Romano, who was charged with sexual abuse, forcible touching and public lewdness.

Sources said he has a sealed 2007 arrest for sexual abuse.

***************************************

Police busted a suspect in Fresh Meadows after he viciously stabbed the man dating his ex-wife, cops said.

Myoung Suh, 41, brandished a knife and stabbed the 42-year-old man 10 times in the chest at the intersection of 183rd Street and 58th Avenue at 9:30 a.m. on July 4, cops said.

Cops arrested Suh, who was charged with attempted murder, according to a spokesman for DA Richard Brown.

The victim was in intensive care.

Elmhurst tire slasher arrested

From the Queens Chronicle:

After allegedly slashing the tires of more than eight cars parked in front of his home, Yonathan Lim was escorted out in handcuffs Friday, after angry neighbors urged the police to investigate slashings which they said were too routine to be random.

According to Lim’s neighbor, Bill Weydig, when police finally looked through their records, they discovered slashings had taken place for almost a year on the quiet residential block of Van Loon Street in Elmhurst.

However, it was only after Weydig’s tenant, Margarita Guilarte, who had her tires slashed twice, took Weydig’s security camera footage to police that Lim was apprehended. “She just sat there and refused to leave until they did something,” Weydig said.

Dai-Rong Zheng of Middle Village said his wife, Maiko Morito-Zheng fell victim to the slasher’s rage several weeks ago, but he thought police would not follow up on the incident.

Morito-Zheng waited for several hours for police to arrive to take her report and when they came, Zheng said they didn’t seem to take the incident seriously. “I was doubting anything would happen, because normally they just put these things aside, and I was trying to tell my wife to forget about it, that this is how things are in New York. When I got the call saying they caught him, I apologized to her,” he said.

Gruesome murder in Flushing

From the Daily News:

A young mother and her two dogs were found dead in her gas-filled Queens apartment Wednesday - and her attacker was on the loose after crashing his Mercedes into Flushing Bay, cops said.

Claudia Montoya's killer, who slashed her throat then turned on her gas stove, fled the gruesome murder scene in Flushing in a panic, smashing into two fences, a brick wall and trash cans before making what cops believe was a dramatic bid to fake his suicide.

Following a short drive into neighboring College Point, the killer floored the black Mercedes SUV down 28th Ave. - a straight road that dead-ends before a bluff leading down to the bay.

The SUV skirted a guardrail on the wrong side of the road and hurtled over a small hill before splitting a pair of trees and going airborne - eventually splash-landing into the shallows, partially submerging the luxury ride.

Cops searched the water and shoreline for the killer, but found nothing. They eventually traced the SUV's license plate back to the Murray Lane apartment where Montoya, 31, was found slain, police sources said.

Neighbors called 911 around 7:50 a.m. Wednesday after becoming alarmed by a powerful odor of gas emanating from the apartment.

Cops found Montoya's body along with those of two blood-splattered dogs, which appear to have been overcome by the gas.

Montoya's throat had been slashed, but she was also stabbed numerous times in the torso, cops said. The Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy Thursday to determine if the gas played a role in her death, a spokeswoman said.

Tire-slasher in Elmhurst

From the Queens Chronicle:

Park anywhere you like in Elmhurst, just not on Van Loon Street. According to residents and area workers, a month of tire slashings at two spots on the street have made it a location to avoid.

Frankie Moy parked his car in one of the spots on May 6th at around 6 a.m. An hour later, he came back from working at nearby Sunrise Bakery & Cafe to find three of his tires were flat. Moy said he saw another car suffer the same fate just last week. “I had to buy three new tires,” Moy said. “After that I have been seeing a lot of tires flat at the location at the same two spots.” According to Moy, it is now common knowledge in the area that those spots are off limits, still he said visitors to the area often park there and their tires are destroyed as well.

Bill Weydig, who lives near the spots, located at 52-22 and 52-26 Van Loon St., said his tenant Margarita Guilarte also fell victim to the slasher’s rage.

Weydig decided to train his security camera on the location and caught the vandal in the act. He surmised that the slasher desires one of the spots for himself and ruins the tires of those who park there in anger. Weydig estimates around eight cars have been targeted, though he said he only has two attacks on tape. After viewing a tape of the incident, Weydig said it was obvious who the perpetrator was.

“He lives down the block,” Weydig said.

Madman sent to slammer

From the NY Post:

The hulking “monster” who went on a stabbing rampage in Queens last year was sentenced to 25 years to life for killing an elderly man and stabbing the victim’s wife and another woman.

David Williams left Joan Purcell “overwhelmed with pain” when he killed her husband and stabbed her in January 2009.

Williams, who also stabbed Juhn Fook as he ran amok, pleaded guilty to murder and two counts of assault in April.

He told State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak that he had no history of mental problems or prescribed psychotropics before the assault and apologized to his victims, his family and his community.

“Something went terribly wrong that I cannot account for,” Williams said. “Whatever sentence I am given, I hope that it should start to serve as a healing process for the victims.”

He was sentenced to 25 years to life on the murder count and 25 years on each of the assault counts which will run concurrently to the longer stretch.

Mother tries to prevent a case from going cold

From the NY Times:

Mr. Agard told the police that he had taken the subway to Astoria to visit a friend and had been approached by three strangers, Hispanic or white men, peddling marijuana. One pulled out a fake gun, he said; he hit that man and was stabbed by another.

Only later would the police hear that Mr. Agard had actually been driven to Astoria — by a friend with a criminal record, the one who had called him that evening.

“He lived for a very long time, and you know what? He lied to us,” Lieutenant Keough said. “That doesn’t make me not want to solve the case, but it doesn’t make it easier.”

When resentment of the police is widespread, as it is among young black men, there is social pressure not to cooperate, law enforcement experts say. Victims also fear retaliation for “snitching,” Lieutenant Keough said.

“If anything comes out of this,” he said, “I hope victims learn: You never know when you’re going to die, so you might want to cooperate while you can.”

Mr. Agard eventually went home, but not for long. A high fever struck. Back in the hospital, he died on Sept. 27, 2008.

On Nov. 7, the police say they put out Crime Stoppers fliers offering a reward for information. Ms. Guerra thinks if her son had been white, or had died on Fifth Avenue, the fliers would have gone up sooner. (Sometimes she even doubts they were ever posted, since the police only asked for his picture a year later.)

On Dec. 16, Ms. Guerra brought a female friend of her son’s to the station house. Ms. Guerra had told the police that a friend had picked up her son that night, but she did not know his name. The female friend identified him from police photos.

Now the police had a lead. But they did not act right away, and soon it was too late. Four days later the friend — Ms. Guerra asked that he not be identified for her safety — was shot to death. The police eventually linked that killing to an unrelated criminal scheme involving cars.

On Dec. 26, the detectives alerted the police to look for the man’s associates, to see if they knew anything, even gossip, about Mr. Agard’s death.

Then the record goes fallow. The file shows that on April 22, 2009, the police questioned people arrested for selling marijuana near the spot where Mr. Agard died. Then, for five months, nothing.

Sunnyside murderer pleads guilty

From the Times Ledger:

A Woodside man facing charges in the brutal murder of former NYPD Crime Lab Technician Michelle Lee, 24, of Sunnyside, and the attempted cover-up of the killing, pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree manslaughter and three counts of tampering with evidence.

Gary McGurk, 24, of 48-56 58th Place in Woodside, was Lee’s former boyfriend. He previously denied killing her, even to his attorneys, but accepted a plea deal to serve a maximum of 37 years in prison, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

A DA spokesman said the Lee’s family, who was in court Thursday when McGurk pleaded guilty, was satisfied with the length of the sentence because of the guarantee of McGurk’s conviction.

Lee’s roommate returned home to their 41st St. Sunnyside apartment on April 27 of last year to find Lee’s naked body tied to her bed with the cord from a cell phone charger. She had been beaten and stabbed in the throat, and had burn marks from an iron on her torso, according to the DA.

McGurk admitted not only to killing Lee, but also to altering the crime scene and making calls to himself from Lee’s cell phone to cover his tracks. Investigators determined McGurk and Lee dated and had an on-again off-again sexual relationship prior to her murder, the DA said.

Grand jury decides subway stabbings were self-defense

From Fox 5:

A Manhattan grand jury has decline to indict a criminal justice student who said he was defending himself when he stabbed two New York City subway riders to death, according to District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

The AP reported that Brenddy Garcia, 19, was set to be freed later Friday from behind bars. He has been held in jail since the March 28 incident in a subway, said his lawyer, Lawrence Fredella.

"Brenddy Garcia never wanted this to happen. He never intended to kill anyone," Fredella said. Garcia, he said, had been distraught over the incident and the charges and wanted to extend condolences to the slain men's families.

The district attorney's office initially said Garcia overreacted and lashed out with a knife after a group of passengers kicked a bag of beer bottles at him. Darnell Morel and Ricardo Williams, both 24, were killed.

But prosecutors said Friday that "significant evidence of self-defense" emerged after Garcia's arrest.

If there was significant evidence of self-defense, why didn't they just drop the charges?

25 people walked past stabbing victim without calling 911

From the NY Post:

A heroic homeless man, stabbed after saving a Queens woman from a knife-wielding attacker, lay dying in a pool of blood for more than an hour as nearly 25 people indifferently strolled past him, a shocking surveillance video obtained by The Post reveals.

Some of the passers-by paused to stare at Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax last Sunday morning and others leaned down to look at his face.

He had jumped to the aid of a woman attacked on 144th Street at 88th Road in Jamaica at 5:40 a.m., was stabbed several times in the chest and collapsed as he chased his assailant.

In the wake of the bloodshed, a man came out of a nearby building and chillingly took a cellphone photo of the victim before leaving. And in several instances, pairs of people gawked at Tale-Yax without doing anything.

Later, another man stopped, leaned over and vigorously shook Tale-Yax’s body. After lifting the victim’s head and body to reveal a pool of blood, he also walked off.

Not until some 15 minutes after he was shaken by the pedestrian — more than an hour and 20 minutes after the victim collapsed — did firefighters finally arrive and discover that Tale-Yax, 31, had died.

Firefighters were responding to a 911 call of a non-life-threatening injury at 7:23 a.m. when they found his body.