MANHATTAN

*** A middle-aged man was found stabbed to death at his Upper West Side apartment, cops said yesterday.

A friend discovered Rafael Vargas, 55, with head and neck wounds, lying face up in a pool of blood.

The victim was found in the hallway of his Amsterdam Avenue apartment near West 102nd Street at 4:36 p.m. Monday, police said.

Sources said the friend went to the apartment with a key provided by Vargas to check up on him.

Cops said Vargas had a male roommate, whom they want to question. Neighbors told police the two had gotten into fights on several occasions.

*** Police responding to a call of an unconscious person found a dead man inside a Harlem apartment, cops said yesterday.

The body of the 41-year-old man was found with no apparent signs of trauma in the apartment on Broadway near West 132nd Street at 11:45 p.m. Monday.

Police sources said the man, whose name was not immediately released, may have died of natural causes. The Medical Examiner’s Office will perform an autopsy.

BROOKLYN

*** A shoplifter struggled with police as he was taken into custody in a Downtown Brooklyn store, authorities said yesterday.

Sources said a security guard spotted Gregory Lynch, 43, take a canvas bag in a Target store on Flatbush Avenue near Atlantic Avenue at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

The guard then saw Lynch grab a Magellan Road Map, three drills and a radar detector before trying to leave the store without paying, sources said.

As Lynch reached the door, the guard stopped him and held him, and called 911.

When cops arrived, Lynch allegedly refused to be cuffed and elbowed one of the officers in the shoulder. The cop suffered a herniated disc.

After police managed to restrain him, Lynch allegedly kicked an elevator door.

*** An alleged burglar was arrested after he terrorized his neighbor and the owner of a Bushwick building in two separate incidents, authorities said yesterday.

The first incident occurred at 1 a.m. Nov. 13, when Gary Bogle, 39, kicked in the door of his 35-year-old neighbor’s apartment on Eldert Street near Broadway, sources said. Bogle allegedly cursed at the woman and threatened her.

Sources said Bogle then grabbed the woman’s microwave oven, tossed it into the hallway and fled.

Bogle allegedly struck again at the same location at 8 a.m. Monday when he broke into the basement and stole a boiler, which the building owner had installed for $6,000.

Sources said Bogle threatened the owner and said he would burn down his building.

Bogle was arrested Monday. No injuries were reported.

QUEENS

*** A Rikers Island correction officer has been arrested for attacking his 15-year-old daughter in their Howard Beach home, authorities said yesterday.

Ruben Rivera, 39, who has worked five years for the Correction Department, allegedly hit his daughter in the face in their residence at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Rivera was arrested that day and charged with assault, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment, according to a spokeswoman for Queens DA Richard Brown.

STATEN ISLAND

*** A stolen can of sausage led to the arrest of a shoplifter in a Westerleigh store, authorities said yesterday.

Sources said Donald Walters, 35, grabbed the can and stuffed it in his jacket in a 99 Cent Store at Forest and Veltman avenues at 11:50 a.m. Monday.

Store workers caught the suspect and handed him over to cops.