Sunnyside Gardens district

The Sunnyside Gardens crime wave continued Friday with a burglary on 39th Ave (49th Street)

The police said that the perpetrator(s) broke into the house and made off with electronic items. A police report was filed on Friday, April 20, at noon.

This burglary is just one of a series of incidents that has plagued the Gardens in recent times. In early March, there were two break-ins on 47th Street (between Skillman Ave. and 39th Ave) in one evening. In one case, the burglar opened a ground-floor back window, while the family slept upstairs and fled with property. The other incident took place a few doors down the street around the same time.

Kim Brown, a Sunnyside Gardens resident, said Sunday that some residents have recently bought home alarms or are in the process of buying them. She said that she spoke to an ADT alarm salesman who was canvassing the neighborhood.

The burglaries come at a time when Gardens residents are already on the look out for a groper who attacked a woman on 46^th Street two weeks ago, and for criminals who have been stealing car tires.

Politicians call for the arrest of the neighborhood groper(s) in Oct, 2011

Sunnyside and Woodside residents were stunned to learn that the punishment handed down to gropers is small.

Captain Terry O’Toole from the 108 Precinct told members of the United 40s Civic Association in Woodside on Thursday that most gropings were classified as “forcible touching” and were misdemeanors —punishable up to a year in jail.

“I don’t make the laws,” said Captain O’Toole, to an audience that thought the penalty would be more severe. “I just make the arrests.”

Perpetrators of these acts are often career criminals with long rap sheets with uncontrollable impulses, he said. Those who are caught are typically arrested on a host of other charges. However, in one recent case, the perpetrator is believed to be a homeless person.

Forcible touching according to state law is defined, in short, as: “the squeezing, grabbing or pinching of such other person’s sexual or other intimate parts.”

Liz Taylor, a local resident who attended the United 40s meeting, said afterward: “I think it is a disgrace that this is not viewed as a major crime,” adding, “It’s like the law says it’s no big deal.”

There have been at least seven groping incidents in Sunnyside and Woodside in the past eight months—at a time when there seems to be a wave of these sex attacks across New York City. Sex predators have been attacking women in Jackson Heights, Astoria and several neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn in recent months.

In those cases where violence is used for the purposes of “touching”, the district attorney is able to up the charges to sexual assault and other major felonies. However, that is dependent on the victim’s testimony and a host of other factors.

State Sen. Mike Gianaris, who has sponsored previous sex crimes legislation, said that New York state law, as a rule, is too soft on sex crimes.

“Sex offenders tend to be serial offenders,” he said. “Low level incidents on one day, wind up being extremely serious on another.”

As a general rule, “Legislation on sex crimes is always playing catch up,” he said.

The perpetrator attacked the woman in the vicinity of 39-08 46th Street and “put his hands down her blouse and punched her in the face,” according to police. The incident occurred at 5:45 am. The woman had been visiting relatives and had just caught the subway home.

Mike Novak, a 46th street resident, heard from his house the woman yelling for help.

“I ran out of my house and he had her in the bushes,” Novak said. “I chased after him, but he had sneakers while I was barefoot so he got away.”

Novak, whose wife is a nurse, brought the victim back to his house. His wife made sure she was ok before the police and EMS arrived.

Novak described the man as a Hispanic in his late 20s.

The New York Post did a follow up on the story this morning (Monday).

Sidney Williams

The police have arrested a Brooklyn man in connection with the attempted robbery of the Sunnyside Chase Bank branch located at 47-11 Queens Blvd.

Sidney Williams, 43, of Knickerbocker Avenue, was wanted in connection with five robberies or attempted robberies—including the Feb. 14 Sunnyside incident. He has been charged with three counts of third-degree robbery, according to a statement released by the police yesterday.

The first robbery took place at 10:15 a.m. on Feb. 3 at 95-38 Queens Blvd. in Rego Park, where Williams allegedly passed a note and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.

In his attempt at 104-17 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills on Feb. 23, Williams allegedly fled without cash when tellers did not comply.

The final incident took place on March 15 at a Chase branch located at 66-02 Grand Ave. in Maspeth, where he received an undisclosed amount of cash.

Dawa Lama (Facebook)

The Woodside woman who killed her new-born baby by dumping it in the trash faces 10-years in prison and deportation.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced yesterday that Dawa Lama, a 24-year-old woman from 65th Street, who had given birth in a hospital bathroom last May has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for having thrown her infant girl in the trash and leaving the premises without alerting anyone.

“Today’s guilty plea is a just and fair disposition to a sad case involving a very troubled young woman,” Brown said yesterday. “The defendant has been held accountable for what was a serious but avoidable crime. New York’s Safe Haven law allows a parent to anonymously surrender their unwanted newborn infant to personnel in a safe place – such as a hospital, a police station or a fire station – and not have to worry about getting in trouble.”

Lama, who was arrested on the day of the incident, appeared yesterday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Lenora Gerald and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.

Sentencing has been scheduled for April 16, 2012, at which time Judge Gerald indicated that she would sentence Lama to ten years in prison. Lama, originally from Nepal, is presently being held in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Lama, in her guilty plea, admitted that she went to Elmhurst Hospital on May 10, 2011, to register for prenatal care. After registering at the front desk, she experienced a strong pain in her abdomen and back and needed to use the restroom. While in the restroom, Lama went into labor and delivered the baby – who was later named Mingmar Gurung.

Lama then detached the baby from the umbilical cord, threw the baby in a garbage bin and left the bathroom. Before exiting the hospital, Lama went back to the front desk and retrieved her identification card. Mingmar, who was born alive and full term with no obvious deformities, was placed on life support but died seven days later.

Peter Kim

A scam-artist duped a dozen of would-be Sunnyside renters out of hundreds of dollars.

On Thursday, March 01, 2012, twelve victims were allegedly told they could move in to 43-01 46th Street after exchanging money with Peter Kim before for an apartment that he advertised on “Craig’s list”. The suspect did not have permission or authority to rent the apartment.

The NYPD is seeking the public’s assistance with the whereabouts of Kim.

The incident dates in which the suspect received the money is as follows:

The suspect met all of the victims at the apartment.

1) On 02-22-12, at 2230 hours, victim F/A/29

2) On 02-23-12, at 1530 hours, victim M/W/44

3) On 02-24-12, at 2000 hours, victim M/W/24

4) On 02-24-12, at 2230 hours, victim M/W/24

5) On 02-25-12, at 1300 hours, victim F/35

6) On 02-25-12, at 1400 hours, victim M/W/28

7) On 02-25-12, at 1500 hours, victim M/W/26

8 ) On 02-25-12, at 2100 hours, victim M/W/32

9) On 02-25-12, at 2230 hours, victim F/A/27

10) On 02-28-12, at 1945 hours, victim M/H/49

11) On 02-29-12, at 1830 hours, victim M/W/30

12) On 03-01-12, at 1230 hours, victim M/W/36

Peter Kim (AKA Michael Hong) is described as a M/A/31, approx. 5’08″ in height, 130-150 lbs. Anyone with information in regards to Peter Kim and these incidents is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

All calls are strictly confidential.

Apartment rental scam: MyFoxNY.com

Sunnyside Gardens

The number of burglaries and robberies continues to rise throughout the 108th police precinct, and Sunnyside and Woodside are not being spared.

Last weekend, there were two break-ins on 47^th Street (between Skillman Ave and 39^th Ave). In one case, the burglar opened a ground-floor back window, while the family slept upstairs and fled with property, police said. The other incident took place a few doors down the street around the same time.

“We have had a bad 28 days,” said Captain Terry O’Toole, who spoke Thursday night at the United 40s Civic Association, referring to the 108 precinct that covers Sunnyside, Woodside, LIC and parts of Maspeth. There were 30 reported burglaries for the 28 days ending March 4, 2012, up from 15 for the same period in 2011. In addition, there were 16 reported robberies during that same period, up from 6 last year.

In the past 28 days, O’Toole said that burglaries had taken place in other areas in the neighborhood, such as 47^th Street (by Queen’s Blvd) and another on 47^th Street (by 47^th Ave).  There was another on 56^th Street (by Roosevelt Ave); however, the police caught two teenagers breaking in to that property.

The majority of robberies continue to involve iPods, laptops and cell phones. For example, on Feb. 14 at 5:30 pm, a man held up a pedestrian at gunpoint and took off with a cell phone and cash. The incident came just weeks after a man attempted to hold up GameStop with a gun on Queens Blvd and 48^th Street. There have not been any arrests in either of these cases.

O’Toole tried to assure people that this area is one where very few people have guns.

Captain Donald Powers

Meanwhile, in recent times, there have been several cases where car owners have had their wheels and rims stolen. At the 108^th police precinct meeting on Feb. 28, Captain Donald Powers said that there had been 8 incidents where cars were discovered by their owners without wheels—sitting on blocks.

Two of those incidents took place in Sunnyside Gardens, two in Maspeth and the rest were scattered throughout the precinct.

However, of the four, one occurred by Lou Lodati Playground on Skillman and 42^nd Street.

Powers said that while the number is high, “it is not be by any means an epidemic.” He said cars are usually targeted in areas such as Bayside and College Point, which it’s a little more secluded.

The police has a borough wide unit that’s sole focus is on auto larceny (which includes stolen auto parts). The unit has yet to find the perpetrators.

In other matters, Capt. Powers said that there was a stabbing in Woodside on Feb. 19—resulting in 3 victims. He said that the incident occurred in the car, while several people were driving together through the neighbourhood. The victims got out of the car near the intersection of 39^th Road and 52^nd Street upon being injured. None of the parties have cooperated with police.

Meanwhile, the suspect who attempted to rob the Chase bank branch on Queens Blvd (47^th Street) on Feb. 14 has yet to be apprehended. He is wanted for bank robberies throughout Queens.

Mohammed A.Ali allegedly dragged his wife by the legs across the living room floor and then punched her several times in the face, causing redness and welling.

The incident occurred on Feb. 20 between 8:45 pm and 8:50 pm, according to court records. The victim was treated at a local hospital.

Ali faces charges, such as assault in the third degree, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.