Manhattan
Two thugs robbed a man near Central Park Tuesday, authorities said.The 32-year-old victim was lying on a bench at East 89th Street and Fifth Avenue near the Guggenheim Museum at 6:40 a.m. when the men walked up and stuck a gun in his face. “I’m robbing you. Give me everything you have,” one thug barked before striking him in the head. The duo snatched the man’s messenger bag containing a laptop computer and a camera, police investigators said.The victim was treated for minor injuries as cops canvassed the area looking for the assailants.
Four suspects were busted for slick-talking gullible victims out of a total of nearly $500,000 by spinning yarns about family curses, police said. The female suspects, between the ages of 44 and 57, allegedly swindled at least four victims in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, instructing them to “temporarily” turn over cash and valuables in bags so a “blessing ritual” could be performed to remove an Asian “curse” on their families. The suspects took the bags, later returned them and fled. Only then did the victims realize their valuables were gone and the bags were weighed down only by water bottles. The suspects were apprehended Monday morning when a detective working the case spotted them near Market Slip and Cherry Street speaking to an elderly woman who appeared about to become the latest victim, police sources said.
A man was slashed in the back at an Upper West Side pizzeria, cops said. The 40-year-old victim was arguing with a foe inside Mamma’s Famous Ristorante on Broadway near West 86th Street at 7 p.m. Monday when the slashing took place and the suspect fled on foot. The victim was in stable condition at Mt. Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital. The suspect was described as in his 20s and 5-foot-7 with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a white shirt and gray sweat pants. Cops did not immediately know if the victim was a customer or an employee at the eatery.
The Bronx
A 31-year-old man was shot to death on the grounds of a Mott Haven housing development, cops said. Jaquan Lawrence was at St. Ann’s Avenue near East 135th Street at the Mill Brook Houses at about 11:45 p.m. Monday when he was shot in the head and torso, police investigators said. Cops did not immediately have any possible suspects or information on a motive.
A man and a woman were shot in Mt. Hope — and cops say the pair apparently were not the gunman’s intended targets. The woman, in her 20s, and a 63-year-old man were at the Grand Concourse and East 179th Street at about 6:30 p.m. Monday when a man shot them in the legs, police said. Both were rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition. Police described the suspect as in his 20s who was last seen wearing all gray clothing and white sneakers. Cops said the victims didn’t know each other.
Queens
An off-duty cop returned to her Flushing home to find that a thief had broken in and stolen her service weapon, law-enforcement sources said. The 35-year-old officer used her key to enter her home at 10 p.m. Sunday when she noticed the door chain had been fastened from inside. The cop forced the door open and found that her home had been ransacked and her Glock-19 pistol had been stolen along with more of her property. It’s believed the thief had gained entry to and exited the home via an open window, sources said. The NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the robbery.
A man exposed himself to a woman at an Astoria Laundromat, authorities said. The suspect walked into the Dave Brand Laundromat on 36th Avenue at about 1:30 p.m. on July 27 and pulled down his pants in front of a 45-year-old patron, police investigators said. The suspect then hiked up his pants and hustled out of the establishment in an unknown direction, sources said. Witnesses described the man as in his 20s, approximately 6 feet tall and 230 pounds, law-enforcement sources said. He was last seen wearing a red and black shirt and a black jacket.