Since its inception in the 1830s, the Sun has chronicled crime in the mean streets of the City that Never Sleeps, and to this day, the police blotter – or its digital equivalent – offers fascinating snapshots into lives gone wrong in the myriad neighborhoods of the five boroughs. Our aim here is to chronicle the more curious criminal incidents across New York City that, with local news coverage in retreat, may not otherwise come under a spotlight. 

Please remember when perusing this blotter 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 It’s also possible that the charges brought against them may be reduced or even withdrawn.

MANHATTAN

Midtown: Spice Girl Nabbed at Penn Station Armed With Taser, Switchblade 

A young woman was stopped inside of Penn Station minutes before 12:30 p.m. on February 2.

Officers learned that the 22-year-old had an outstanding warrant from a dusty grand larceny case out of Staten Island, according to a police source. 

The cops then searched her person and plucked from her jacket 62 plastic baggies, 1 vial, 12 twisted rolling papers filled with K-2 synthetic cannabis, aka Spice. “I just have K on me,” the woman allegedly told the officers, according to the complaint. 

She soon offered an addendum: “I have a taser and a knife in my bag.”

Indeed, the arresting cops found that the woman possessed more than the lab-made doobies; she also had a stun gun and a switchblade knife that was measured in about three-and-a-half inches long.  

Morningside Heights: Drunkard Suffers Blade and Frying Pan Beatdown 

A knife-wielding, frying pan-swinging man whacked a liquored-up acquaintance and slashed him. 

At around 10:30 p.m. on February 22, the 35-year-old tough allegedly inflicted the thrashing on the inebriated 46-year-old man along a sidewalk outside Amsterdam Avenue between 107th and 108th Streets.  The duel sparked from heated jawing with each other to full-on fisticuffs; with the more sober suspect drawing both a frying pan and knife that he allegedly used to whack and stab him in the face and sliced up his right knee. 

The battered and bloodied victim was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital to recover.  Cops arrested the suspect and he was soon brought up on numerous assault charges. It remains unclear what prompted the clash. 

Midtown: Woman Caught Stealing Bag From Chanel Store 

A woman was caught trying to use her five-finger discount to grab a chi-chi handbag from French luxury fashion house Chanel. 

The 45-year-old reportedly entered the 57th Street boutique at around 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. 

CCTV footage captured the woman lifting the handbag, estimated to be worth over $3,000, from a display and tucking it into her jacket. 

The opportunist was seen ducking out of the biz “without issuing payment” for the accessory. 

Cops caught up to the suspected lux larcenist on Jan. 9 and placed her under arrest. 

She was then hit with larceny, petit larceny, and criminal possession of stolen property raps. 

At her arraignment, a judge set bail at $10,000 partially surety bond or $3,000 cash which was substantially lower than the amounts prosecutors sought.  

Lower East Side: Armed Masked Man Warned Dunkin’ Worker: “You Don’t Want To Get Shot!”

A masked goon who flashed a pistol knocked off a Dunkin’ for nearly $1,000. 

The crook stepped into the confectionary chain on Madison Street near Rutgers at around 9:45 p.m. on January 20.  He approached the 56-year-old man working the counter and raised his shirt to show a pistol tucked in his waistband and hissed: “You don’t want to get shot!”  He then demanded the worker to pop open the till. 

After complying, the bandit reached for the slots and grabbed $900.  He was last seen pedaling away on a CitiBike. 

QUEENS 

Rockaway Beach: Boot-Burning Fiend Twice Tried To Burn Frenemy’s Home To Ground

A woman allegedly attempted to torch her supposed pal’s home twice. 

The 64-year-old pyro initially struck on June 13 in front of the home on Beach 56th Street.    

The accused was recorded on CCTV at around 5 a.m. in front of a woman’s apartment in a residential building igniting a piece of paper and slipping it into the doorknob and door jam. 

The fire caused severe damage beyond charring the front door and some of the corridor.

She returned for more.  Cops say the woman who is described as the victim’s “friend” reappeared at around 6 a.m. on Jan. 14.  This time the woman and the “friend” tenant volleyed in a heated dispute. 

It sent the suspect into burn mode and she allegedly took a pair of boots and lit them on fire right outside the victim’s apartment front door.  CCTV footage showed the burn lady standing there watching the boots turn to ash from the flames. Cops managed to arrest and charge the woman with multiple counts of arson and criminal mischief for the door and boot blazes.

Woodhaven: ATM Fleecer Takes Cops on Hour-Long 120MPH Pursuit

An ATM and cash box bilker turned on the turbos in an attempt to lose law enforcement officers giving chase.

The Tasty Bite Deli And Grill located on Jamaica Avenue was burgled at around 1:30 a.m. on January 6.  A trio burst into the biz, broke cords and ripped a sign from an ATM machine and took a black cash box with them. 

A staffer manning the store informed cops that the thieves stole away in a white Dodge Durango with a tiger claw deal.  That car sped off and was spotted by a responding detail. With the light pack and sirens wailing — the 40-year-old driver — allegedly tipped the dial to 120 MPH leading to the cop’s “inability to catch” the suspect’s car. For an hour, the deviant was said to have evaded the cops by blowing several traffic lights, swerving in and out of oncoming traffic, and hopping onto sidewalks.

The driver ultimately smashed into a dividing wall at the intersection of Horace Harding Expressway and 108th Street.  He popped out but cops reeled in the suspect. 

They found the cash box from the deli and when they opened it the $800 amount that owner said was in it was gone. Officers also managed to track down the stolen ATM five miles away on Park Drive East. 

It was emptied of its $1,280 coffers.

The one suspect of the three was brought up on reckless endangerment, burglary, criminal mischief, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unlawful fleeing of a police officer in a motor vehicle.   

STATEN ISLAND

Silver Lake: Patriotic Artist Provocateur Admits To Decorating Speed Camera With Flower Bouquet

A red light camera became an irksome art installation that rendered its lens blind. 

Cops say a 59-year-old artist (who calls himself the “Beautification Squad”) with a reputation for promoting Trump’s MAGA ethos and whose Americana-themed art vends for as much as $10,000 was caught after cops say he and some accomplices committed the alleged street subterfuge. 

They say the man and others propped a pole tipped with flowers in an effort to render the gizmo useless — specifically being unable to perform its function of “recording vehicles traveling in excess of the posted speed limit”, according to the criminal complaint.

The suspect stands accused of targeting two cameras. 

One pole of floral interference was allegedly raised at around 9:30 p.m. on January 14 at the intersection of Oakdale Street and Richmond Avenue. 

Another was believed to have been propped up at the intersection of Van Duzer Street and Maxie Court back at around 11 p.m. on February 4.  

“Yes I know we are here for the red light cameras,” he allegedly told cops when questioned. “That’s me in the photo. Yes, I am wearing a wig… The Beautification Squad is me. I’m the Beautification Squad.” He continued: “I did them on Feb. 4th. (Noting he also apparently did the same in mid-January). 

“They were all me… Yes, that’s me with the flowers.”

When reached by The Sun, the accused pridefully took credit for being the  “Beautification Squad” as described in the complaint. 

He also claimed to have gussied up several locations where speed cameras were operational on Staten Island. 

“Oh dude, I did a whole bunch of them because the speeding cameras are ridiculous and we’re trying to get them removed because they’re not what they’re supposed to be. 

“They’re money-grubbing city b—-t.”

He claims that he’s been fighting the implementation of the devices “since the beginning” and that the floral bouquet rigged on poles to hinder the speed camera lenses — he explained they weren’t real. 

“Fake flowers that I got at the art supply stores,” he confirmed.

Prosecutors charged the accused with obstructing governmental administration and criminal trespassing.  

BROOKLYN

Williamsburg: Career Burglar Caught Swiping Rx Package in Front of Church 

A man with a decorated rap sheet dating back to 1992 was caught crooking. 

The 64-year-old was busted on Feb. 17 after weeks of eluding capture. 

Cops say that at around 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 26, the accused was captured on CCTV  jimmying a screwdriver into a Pentecostal church door located on South 4th Street.  He then allegedly swiped a stash of packaged prescription meds (valued at around $40) from the vestibule 

Prosecutors charged the perp with burglary, criminal possession of stolen property, and trespassing charges.  The bust adds to the suspect’s 20 priors of mostly burglaries, according to a police source. 

Gravesend: Brute Beats One Till Ear Bleeds, Shoots Another in Butt 

A pugilist was busted after tuning up one guy and then shooting another. 

The 29-year-old suspect is facing attempted murder charges among others from a vicious attack from December 10, 2022, on Gravesend Neck Road off Van Sicklen Street.  The suspect allegedly delivered a series of punch and kick blows to his 30-year-old rival — causing the man to bleed from his left ear. 

He then allegedly drew a gun, and fired a series of rounds that struck another man in the arm and buttocks. The shot man required two surgeries to recover. 

Cops caught up to the suspect on Feb. 19, just short of the three-year anniversary of the near-lethal attacks.  

BRONX

Kingsbridge Heights: “He Stole My Flowers”: Sheer-Stabbing Shop Owner Attacks Petal Pirate

A flower shopkeep allegedly copped to stabbing a thief. 

The 55-year-old man became a suspect after he allegedly confronted a rogue for nicking one of his flowers. While manning the West Fordham Road flower establishment back at around 6:45 p.m. on February 22, the suspect witnessed a random snatch a flower from his inventory and prance off. 

But the shopkeep allegedly attempted to stop him. 

With a set of sheers in his hand — the merchant stabbed the bandit under his arm.  The thief-turned-victim was taken to a local hospital where he was sewn up with four stitches. 

Asked why he drew blood, the suspect replied: “I am the one who stabbed him with the sheers [sic] because he stole my flowers without [sic] paying for it.”

Longwood: “Let Me Get Your Money!”: Man Chokes, Robs Boss’ Cash and Crank Calls Him Several Times

A business owner was attacked and jacked by his subordinate. 

The two men were squaring off at around 3:45 p.m. on January 13 in front of Bill Rainey Park.

The words graduated to fisticuffs — with the 35-year-old underling getting his boss’s head around his arm and choking him out before snapping, “Let me get your money!”

The man snatched $800 from the victim.  That prompted the choked superior to pull out his phone and dial 911.  But before the call could be placed, the suspect allegedly swatted the phone out of the victim’s hand causing it to crack the screen and damage the speaker after falling to the asphalt. Authorities say the suspect sped off in a car. But he didn’t stop the harassment. 

The complaint reviewed by the Sun suggests the perp dialed the victim from a blocked number. 

In one of the calls, the papers say, the alleged robber barked into the phone “speaking nonsensically.” “Do not call me again,” the boss warned his employee. 

The suspect kept calling from the same blocked number until the victim answered again and heard the perp’s voice. 

West Farms: “My Ex Has a Gun!” … Man Cried Wolf on Ex-Galpal Over 40 Times 

He’s a serial 911 crank caller. 

For nearly nine months, a  29-year-old became a 911 pest for dispatchers; racking up scores of incidents that he allegedly invented in his deranged mind. 

“My ex has a gun in the apartment,” he blabbed back in late June of last year. 

The cops rushed to the woman’s Honeywell Avenue apartment to discover it was a ruse and that she was unarmed.  The same detail played the voice of the caller and she quickly confirmed it was that of her ex-boyfriend. 

Several of the same kind of bogus calls were placed stretching several months. And each one mimicked the last: the same man dialing 911 to placate his ex inside of her Honeywell home as an armed attacker.  And each time the cops treated the incident as a legitimate active threat and realized instantly they were being had.

Here are some of the incidents that ultimately led to his Feb. 17 arrest:

-The same caller allegedly informed a dispatcher to the woman’s Honeywell a: “My ex has a gun in the apartment… having an argument.” 

-The suspect called to declare that he “saw a gun” and that a “woman with red hair had it.”

-“I need police. I just saw my ex with a gun,” was the man’s alleged story that didn’t check out. 

-In one incident, the suspect accused the woman of trying “to fight me with a knife.” 

-He even allegedly more than once pretended to be a police officer in one incident, stating, “I need backup! My name is Officer Gonzalez, Shield Number 2147 — and I just saw a woman with a firearm at [sic], fourth floor.” 

-Another time he claimed there was a leak at the woman’s apartment, declaring on the 911 phone call: I need the fire department! I smell gas on the fourth floor!”

-One call had the suspect claiming that a fight was occurring inside the woman’s flat and that “they keep saying they have a gun!”

-In another faux scenario, the suspect allegedly accused his ex of “holding a gun in a fight with her new boyfriend.”

-The same alleged crank caller told authorities in another instance that “there was a homeless person with a gun. I saw him.”

Once collared, authorities managed to bring a raft of charges on the suspect including weapons possession, assault, menacing, and harassment.