Freddy Boy, a pit bull, sat in the getaway car while Dennis Kharitonov, 25, hit up a grocery store on 20th Avenue, then a bodega on 17th Avenue and finally a 99-cents store on 20th Avenue, at gunpoint.
His questionable targets (how much money could a 99-cent store really have?) and his poor choice of getaway driver make his arrest by police officers seem impending.
The car, by the way, was stolen too.
“He [said he] was going to walk the dog and he wasn’t home for two hours,” said his mother, Galina Kharitonov. “I started to get nervous.”
Kharitonov was caught after he crashed into another car near 16th Avenue. He jumped out and ran, abandoning Freddy Boy in the stolen car.
Cops caught up to him based on a description heard over the scanner. He was wearing a “replica Carmelo Anthony Knicks jersey.”
Freddy Boy was found safe and sound and returned to the elder Kharitonov.
The suspect was arrested and charged with grand larceny.
A local tipster sent us a note about police activity in front of Ridgewood Savings Bank at 7124 18th Avenue. A card skimmer may have been attempting to lift card numbers from the ATM.
A bank representative would not confirm whether or not the crime took place, however, he did state that account holders and those that have used the ATM this past week should carefully go over their account statements for any suspicious activity.
The rep added that if clients notice a letter from their banking institution in the mail, Ridgewood or otherwise, they should open it as it may contain important information pertaining to their fraudulent card usage.
WNYC created a map that points to the number of stop-and-frisks in relation to the number of gun seizures and numbers don’t quite seem to add up.
WNYC “located all the ‘hot spots’ where stop and frisks are concentrated in the city, and found that most guns were recovered on people outside those hot spots—meaning police aren’t finding guns where they’re looking the hardest.”
In Bensonhurst, police stopped citizens 1,524 times near the Marlboro Houses. Not a single one of those searches gave way to police finding a gun.
Instead, one gun was recovered at Bath Beach Park and another at the Avenue P F-train station.
Commissioner Raymond Kelly and other supporters of the stop-and-frisk process, say that it deters criminals from carrying handguns and that police frequent spots where violent crime occurs most frequently.
Advocates against stop-and-frisk say that it is a major waste of public resources as no guns are actually found in places saturated with cops.
The New York Civil Liberties Union writes, “The NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices raise serious concerns over racial profiling, illegal stops and privacy rights.”
Data shows that out of 685,000 stops in 2011, 770 guns were found. This says that only one tenth of one percent of all stops resulted in cops finding a gun.
Similar results to those found at the Marlboro Houses were also found at the Sheepshead-Nostrand Houses, as well as areas citywide in which the city focuses its stop-and-frisk efforts.
What do you think? Are current stop-and-frisk tactics effective?
Reality TV just got a whole lot realer. Ex-husband of “Mob Wives” star Renee Graziano squealed to cops about the role of two former associates in a murder investigation, which ultimately led to their arraignments.
Hector (Junior) Pagan said that Richard Riccardi and Luigi Grasso are responsible for the July 2, 2010 Brooklyn robbery of an auto body shop in Gravesend that caused the death of Luchese associate James Donovan.
Pagan also wore a hidden wire which set off a string of mobster arrests, including acting Bonanno boss Vincent (Vinny TV) Badalamenti and Pagan’s ex-father-in-law Anthony (TG) Graziano.
Pagan shot Donovan in the leg, something which he initially pinned on Riccardi. That was proven to be untrue when surveillance footage of the crime surfaced showing Riccardi never left the car.
The bullet landed in Donovan’s femoral artery and he bled to death.
Now, Riccardi is accused of supplying the guns while Grasso accompanied Pagan, according to the New York Daily News. All three stand accused of heisting tens of thousands of dollars from the shop.
Lawyers for the two men implicated by Pagan deny their clients are guilty. Instead, they blame Pagan.
“Hector Pagan is truly the guilty party,” Riccardi’s lawyer Joseph Benfante said, “and has been caught lying to the Brookyn district attorney’s office as well as the U.S. Attorneys.”
Riccardi and Grasso will face life in prison if they are convicted. It is unclear what punishment Pagan will receive.
Councilman James Oddo and several other officials hosted an event to offer some tech-savvy advice for residents planning vacations. Specifically, they told residents not to post about upcoming vacations on any social networking sites.
Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, Councilmen James Oddo and Vincent Ignizio spoke to a group of people to help answer tech questions related to home security.
“Don’t help criminals by posting on Facebook or other ways of letting criminals know that you’re going to be away,” said Ignizio, according to SILive.com.
He said that he often uses social networking sites, but he is careful about what information he releases.
Although it may be tempting to write about that Caribbean getaway, with the popularity of social networks and internet information sharing, it seems that burglars have begun to use Facebook and other social networking websites to stake out empty homes.
Oddo and the rest of the officials also urged residents on vacations not to post photos until they return, since posting while are still on vacation may lure criminals.
It’s sound advice since censoring location updates is not often practiced in today’s personal information hungry world. With applications like foursquare encouraging location updates with pseudo-prizes, it’s harder to distinguish between the right about and too much information.
A 25-year-old man was stabbed to death outside of La Parranda at 2366 86th Street early Saturday morning.
Police responded to a distressed caller saying that there had been a shooting outside of the club. When police arrived, they found that the victim had actually been stabbed several times in the neck.
He was rushed Lutheran Medical Center. He was pronounced dead on arrival, according to DNAinfo.com.
Police on the scene also noticed a man with a bloody ear searching the area for his missing teeth. Investigators picked up the toothless man and brought him in for questioning.
The killer has not been identified yet.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
Image courtesy of the offices of Assemblyman Dov Hikind
No new information has been released regarding the vandals responsible for the wave of anti-Semitic graffiti in Borough Park. The acts of hate have prompted many community leaders to publicly condemn the perpetrators.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler has announced his desire to join the local leaders and work with law enforcement, elected officials and community leaders to keep the neighborhood free from symbols of hate.
“I stand with the Borough Park community in condemning these ugly acts of hate directed at the Jewish community. Swastikas, which are abhorrent and unacceptable symbols of hatred and violence, placed at the core of Brooklyn’s Jewish community unfortunately demonstrate that anti-Semitism is alive and well. The perpetrator must be caught and prosecuted, and we must stand together to say that we will not tolerate such cowardly displays of bigotry,” he said.
Image courtesy of the offices of Assemblyman Dov Hikind
Just a few weeks after the Borough Park area was vandalized with anti-semetic graffiti, the perpetrators have struck again.
Police have a video of the vandals drawing on a car in front of the Hamodia office at 207 Foster Avenue in Borough Park. It is not yet clear whether these are the same two men from last week or copycats.
Assemblyman Dov Hikind has put up a a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the men in the video.
“We don’t know who is doing this yet, but we know why,” Hikind wrote on his blog. “Some individuals are sending a message. We hear them. And when they’re caught, and they will be, we’ll send a message, too. I urge anyone with any information to come forward.”
In the last few weeks, swastikas have been painted on a minivan, a deli gate, a supermarket, a synagogue and a variety of other places.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
An assault occurred Sunday morning at 3 a.m. on the corner of 45th Street and New Utrecht Avenue.
The victim was taken to Lutheran Trauma Center. Police have not released any information pertaining to the suspect or victim.
It is not yet clear whether any arrests were made, according to Brooklyn Scoop.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
The NYPD released a video that shows the two men suspected of spray-painting swastikas on a store gate, truck and other places.
The vandalism on film occurred at Fischman’s Food Center at 4421 16th Avenue and around the corner at 1605 46th Street, according to DNA Info.
The video shows one man to be in black shorts, black shoes, glasses and a light-colored sweatshirt, and the other man is in light-colored shorts, a T-shirt and baseball cap.
Anyone with information regarding the identity and whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
