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THE BLOTTER
ISSUE № 0054 — 01-29-26
BY: M.L. Nestel
<> PULL QUOTE: TKTK
The Blotter.* A roundup of happenings in Gotham’s mean streets (and from time to time the tri-state region). Each item provides a staticky glimpse into the sleepless city’s peripheral misdemeanors, felonies, and misadventures.
:TIP JAR:
⬛ MANHATTAN
▀ Washington Heights: Ghouls Yank Driver Out Of Van, Slash Then Rob Him
YOU CAN’T EVEN sit innocently in a van and enjoy the aroma of fried chicken wafting through the window anymore.
At around 7 p.m. on Nov. 7, a van driver, 26, was idling in a van parked outside Crown Chicken on Broadway and West 161st Street.
Random strangers — one simulating a gun in his coat and another brandishing a box cutter — approached the innocent and demanded cash.
They then introduced him to a version of their takeout: they dragged him out of the ride.
Once extricated, the suspect, 18, and other hoodlums rifled through his pockets. The box cutter cutthroat slashed him in the right hand. They then proceeded to repeatedly punch and kick him.
All of them hightailed it away with some of his money.
The victim sustained head and back wounds and was rushed to Harlem Hospital where he stablized and surived.
The teen perpetrator was hunted down and formally hit with gang assault and robbery raps.
⬛ THE BRONX
▀ Rikers Island: Seasoned Inmate Busted With Drugs
HE KNEW THE drill. And yet he still allegedly couldn’t help himself.
A 49-year-old inmate who had already done two decades hard time on Rikers Island for a 2004 shootup might be settling back in a lot longer after he was caught in possession of dope on th einside.
The jailbird was formally charged on Dec. 6 with possession of contraband in prison.
He had been hauled back to the prison on the sea following a drug and gun ding back on Oct. 22, 2024. That hiccup violated his parole that would have elapsed in April of this year.
So back to Rikers he went.
The suspect had served 20 years for a manslaughter case for shooting a man in Harlem.
▀ Fordham: Fully Loaded Bangs Buyback
A CHURCH HELD a gun buyback event and some of the weapons were loaded.
The Dec. 13 event at St. James Episcopal Church coordinated under D.A. Darcel Clark’s office bartered 180 guns exchanged for iPads, AirPod Pros, gaming consoles, and $200 and $500 gift cards.
Among the forfeited arsenal inventory, cops counted 67 semi-automatic pistols, 52 revolvers, 11 A15s and AK 47s, 14 rifles, five shotguns, and three ghost guns. (Eight of the guns were loaded, and one had a defaced serial number).
⬛ BROOKLYN
▀ Clinton Hill: Woman Claims Not-So-Random Purse Find, Treats Herself To A ‘Bit Of A Shopping Spree’
SOMETIMES IT RAINS cash.
At least it did for one senior swindler.
Aug. 23 happened to be a 67-year-old woman’s lucky day.
It was around 10 a.m. inside of a home on Clifton Place off Franklin Avenue.
She found a purse supposedly on a stairwell, according to the criminal complaint.
And she allegedly took it and treated herself nearby to some goodies at Family Dollar on Broadway and feated at a Stop 1 Deli Gourmet on Lafayette Avenue — all on the swiped plastic dime (specicially her Citi Double Cash credit card) of the owner of the purse.
Shortly after the woman was stuffing her creme broulee down her craw did the victim receive fraud alerts from Citibank.
She then discovered her purse to be nowhere to be found.
Cops were called and they quickly reviewed video surveillance footage.
It depicted the suspect patronizing both establishments.
They then found the suspect and questioned her.
She allegedly was shown the footage of her buying stuff and chowing down.
But the woman, who admitted to having cataracts, claimed the purse wasn’t stolen.
That she was just looking for its owner — and ultimately she brought it back to the owner. So no foul, right!
“I was returning a purse,” she allegedly told authorities. “I found the purse near the stairs where I believe someone else stole it and abandoned it.”
While attempting to find its owner at a Family Dollar and the deli — she took some liberties.
“I went on a bit of a shopping spree with the cards for a little over $100,” she said. “I owe [the victim] money for that.”
Her story was that before she indulged a little, she did try to knock on the victim’s door.
“I know how hard it is to replace a lost ID so I tried to return the purse,” the woman continued. “But when there was no answer.”
Goodness triumphed over evil for a couple beats when the woman said “I hung the purse on the doorknob.”
And yet still she claims to be thinking of the victim’s interests when she took off with it.
“I had second thoughts,” she said. “I was afraid that someone else might steal it — so I took it again.”
Ultimately, the suspected thief did return to the home and tossed the purse into the victim’s backyard.”
She claims that she made peace with the owner of the purse; who since moved away but that before leaving — she “gave me clothes”.
The authorities didn’t buy the sunny tale of the finders, keepers gets a conscience and returns the goods, so not keepers anymore yarn.
They charged her with criminal possession of stolen property, unlawful possession of personal identification, and identity theft.
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⬛ QUEENS
▀ Flushing: ‘Oh, The Ketamine!’: Heartbroken Hellion Who Shot Up His Apartment Nearly Striking Galpal Unabashed About Dope Stash
A LOVER’S SPAT ended the way of the gun… with the boyfriend left out in the cold and deciding to unload his feelings in the form of two fired slugs from his illegal pistol at a wall inside their shared apartment — just missing her.
The 36-year-old was quareling with his lover, also 36, shortly before 4:15 a.m. on Dec. 22 at their apartment located on Farrington Street near 35th Avenue.
The accused, was allegedly barking with the woman about one thing or another.
At one point the perp grabbed a Canik 9mm pistol and aiming at toward the woman, pulled the trigger twice.
The terrified woman heard the shots and dialed 911.
That sent the shooting romantic fleeing in a white Infiniti.
Investigators retrieved the shot shells, and also found the gun inside a ceiling panel of the bedroom closet along with magazines and ammo. They also collected from the suspect’s bedroom desk a curious baggie of crystalized powder that they later determined was ketamine.
When he returned to his crime scene home — he was busted and then whisked away to the 109 precinct.
Pressed about the incident and also the drugs the accused seemed to get the gist.
“Controlled substance,” he repeated the question, before filling in the blanks, “Oh, the ketamine.”
The suspect was nailed for the charges of weapons, menacing, and drugs.
⬛ STATEN ISLAND
▀ St. George: Christmas Day Desperado With Scalpel Snarled At Park And Rider ‘I Am Going To Cut You!’
A EX-CONVICT CREEPED up on a commuter with bad intentions.
Around 6 a.m. on Christmas Day, the person was inside the Staten Island Ferry hub.
The 32-year-old stepped to the victim holding a scapel.
And without provocation, he made a most untoward advance, seething, “I am going to cut you.”
The maniac was mostly talk because he didn’t make good on his words.
He was quickly scooped up and facing the breaking law music to the tune of criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, and harassment charges.
The same perp had only been a free citizen (conditionally discharged) for most of the year after having been found guilty of petit larceny.
⬛ NYCTALGIC
▀ Crossing 72nd Street In Rain (Upper West Side, NY) - 1970s
Credit: Stephen Harmon
«SOURCE»
▀ Chinatown Street Fair (Chinatown, NY) - 1971
Credit: Corky Lee
▀ High Line (New York, NY) - 1980s
▀ Empty Train (New York, NY) - 1987
Credit: Brandi Merolla
«SOURCE»
▀ Wooster and West Broadway (SoHo, NY) - 1987
Credit: Joshua Malik Fowler
«SOURCE»
▀ Snowday (New York, NY) - 1996
Credit: Jonah Falcon
Credit: Jonah Falcon
«SOURCE»
⬛ Graffiti, Ink
▀ Misc.
«SOURCE»
▀ BRUZ 7
«SOURCE»
⬛ ET. AL
▀ Gleaming The Tube (New York, NY)
«SOURCE»
▀ Zero Clearance (New York, NY)
«SOURCE»
▀ Ooooober! (New York, NY)
«SOURCE»
▀ Safe Scallywags (Bronx, NY)
THE NYPD SPLASHED video footage of two money hungry heisters dashing through the boogie down snow on the afternoon of Jan. 25 outside East 211th Street and Holland Avenue.
The determined duo can be seen lugging the safe that was reportedly filled with cash, jewels, passports, and biz docs.
-30-
*When perusing The Blotter, know that arrests do not constitute guilt, and all suspects are innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, the reported items are merely a snapshot of a criminal matter – what is known at the time of publishing. In most cases, the persons arrested for breaking the law haven’t been convicted (yet). It’s also possible that the charges brought against them may be reduced or even withdrawn.
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