Bullets over 80th Street
Bullets over 80th Street
A man was arrested Monday in connection with a botched robbery on 80th Street where a 52-year-old neighborhood businessman was shot at.
Police said that Domenic Ruggerio, 24, was the first of a handful of people expected to be arrested in the November 11 heist near Narrows Avenue.
The victim, 52, said that he was approaching his home at 6:50 p.m. when a van lurched into his path, blocking his way.
Two men jumped out of the van, ran up to his car and bashed in the passenger side window before jumped inside, all the while trying to pull the victim into the back seat, officials alleged.
Their victim, however, wouldn’t comply with their demands and fought the two men off as his vehicle rolled down the street an additional 30 feet, officials said.
After finally being shaken loose, one of the suspects allegedly pulled a gun and fired one round, which slammed into a brick wall.
The suspects fled the scene, but responding officers found their van on 88th Street between Ridge Boulevard and Narrows Avenue.
Investigators tracked down the van, which was leased, to Ruggerio, who sources said may not have been involved in the actual heist.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 68th Precinct at (718) 439-4211. All calls will be kept confidential.
Trading up
A burglar swiped cash, jewelry and a host of personal information from a 29-year-old woman’s home on Sixth Avenue but left something behind — his music.
Police were told that the woman returned to her apartment on the afternoon of November 10 to find that someone had removed $5,000 a few gold rings and her birth certificate, passport and marriage license.
She then found something that the burglar must have dropped — an iPod.
Cops said that the thief entered the apartment through a bathroom window that was unlocked. They’re trying to determine if anything on the iPod could lead them to the thief’s identity.
82nd Street burglar bash
Cops are investigating two burglaries which took place on 82nd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues last week.
Officials said that someone broke into a 26-year-old man’s home between 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on November 10, taking $50 and a gold chain valued at $300. Police believe that the thief entered the home through a rear bedroom window that was unlocked.
A day earlier someone broke into a 23-year-old woman’s apartment, taking an assortment of jewelry, including a necklace with a butterfly on it.
The woman said that she returned home just before 8 p.m. on November 9 and found her apartment ransacked. Cops have yet to conclude just how the thief entered.
Bump in the afternoon
A man heard banging on a door inside a Fourth Avenue apartment building may be responsible for a burglary, officials said.
Police were told that a 43-year-old woman left her apartment near 78th Street just before 8 a.m. on November 9 to go to work.
When she returned at 5 p.m. that night, her apartment was ransacked. About $2,000 in cash, a laptop computer and some of the woman’s jewelry were missing, officials said.
When questioned, neighbors recall hearing someone banging on the victim’s door at noon, although no one decided to go outside and see who was making the commotion.
6G swindle
A neighborhood senior was bilked of $6,000 after falling prey to a classic “found money” scam.
The 73-year-old woman told police that she was walking her dog past the corner of Ridge Boulevard and 77th Street just before noon on November 7 when two black males got her attention, asking her if she had dropped a black case found lying in the street.
One of the men opened the case, revealing a pile of money inside.
Without missing a beat, one of the men hatched a plan to split the money.
After “consulting” with a lawyer on Fifth Avenue between 75th and 76th streets — the charlatan went inside a building, but left the senior in his car with his accomplice — the man came back saying that they can split the cash, but only if the woman put up $6,000 first as a “good faith” gesture.
The senior agreed, but once she forked over her money the thieves scattered, leaving her $6,000 in the hole.
Cops were still looking for the thieves as this paper went to press.
Keyed in
A set of lost keys may have helped a burglar get into a 16th Avenue home last week, officials said.
A 38-year-old woman told police that she had lost her keys to her home near 87th Street on November 9.
On the night of November 13, she returned home to find that someone had raided the place.
Several pricey electronic items, as well as some clothes, were taken, said police, who have yet to determine just how the thief entered the home.
The victim believes that whoever found her keys used them to get inside.
Detectives were investigating the possibility as this paper went to press.
