Feb. 27, 2010 By Christian Murray
A man was shot in a late-night dispute at El Potrero, a Mexican sports bar at 46-12 Greenpoint Ave., on Thursday Feb. 18, according to police who gave their month crime report at the 108 precinct last week.
This shooting, in addition to the murder of a woman who was found under the Queensboro Bridge, and the apprehension of the drunk driver who killed a Chinese takeout deliveryman were among the most noteworthy incidents of the month.
However, crime in Police Precinct 108 (which covers Woodside, Sunnyside, LIC) for the 28-period ending Feb. 21, 2010, was down.
Police said that the shooting at El Potrero occurred at 2:30 a.m. when a man shot the victim inside the bar. The victim then walked into Elmhurst hospital several hours later and had been under observation for a number of days.
Police said they were still canvassing the neighborhood for the perpetrator, believed to be a Latino in his twenties. They neither confirmed nor denied whether the incident was drug related.
The woman who was found dead appeared to have been wrapped up and dumped in the neighborhood, said Precinct Commander Deputy Inspector Thomas Kavanagh. He said he didn’t believe the crime occurred in the police precinct and was unsure of the circumstances; however, it is a crime that has been assigned to the precinct.
But crime was down. There were zero rapes in the past 28-days compare to one for the same period last year; there were 11 robberies vs. 16; 5 vs. 5 felony assaults; 22 vs. 27 burglaries; 32 vs. 46 grand larcenies; and 25 vs. 6 grand larceny auto.
The police were unable to fully explain what was behind the alarming spike in auto theft. They said that a typical month for grand larceny auto runs at about 14. They did say that thieves have been focusing lately on Ford Econoline vehicles, since there is a big demand for their parts. Additionally, there were a handful of people who left their keys in the ignition.
Police were pleased with their handiwork of capturing Richard Conreras who was responsible for smashing into Jiangiu Chen on his scooter, dragging him 300 to 400 feet to his death.
The precinct awarded its “cop of the month” plaque to police officer Luis Santiago, who was able to take the partial license plate that the police had on the vehicle and work the streets to find the vehicle that was involved in the incident. He found it and an arrest was made.
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Meanwhile, my apartment was burglarized in Woodside, and high school students – including from an all male Catholic school in East Elmhurst, are among the suspects. The school should be ashamed of itself.