Police Blotter
105th Precinct
Springfi eld Gardens
Gunman slays bike-riding victim
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Detectives are looking for the
suspect who shot a 37-year-old man
to death a short distance from the
victim’s Springfield Gardens home
last Friday night.
Law enforcement sources said
the shooting occurred at about
11:16 p.m. on July 5 along 229th
Street between Edgewood and 144th
Avenues in the Brookville section of
the neighborhood.
According to police sources,
Dwayne Smith, 37, was riding his
bicycle along 229th Street, apparently
returning home from a store, when the
unidentified gunman approached him
and opened fire.
Cops said that they believe five
shots were fired. Smith was struck
multiple times in the back, abdomen
and arm. The gunman fled the scene
in an unknown direction.
Officers from the 105th Precinct
and EMS units responded to the scene
after receiving a 911 call about the
shooting. Paramedics rushed Smith
to Jamaica Hospital, where he was
pronounced dead.
Sources familiar with the
investigation believe that, due
to the nature of the shooting and
number of rounds fired, Smith was
deliberately targeted.
Cops are now searching for the
shooter, whom they described as a
black man wearing a white t-shirt.
No arrests have been made, and the
investigation is ongoing.
114th Precinct
Astoria
Burglars sought for apartment break-ins
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Cops are looking for two
burglars who struck at two different
apartments in Long Island City and
Astoria in June.
The first incident took place on
June 21. At 8:50 a.m. that day, police
said, an unknown man gained entry
to an apartment on 36th Street in
Long Island City.
As the suspect was rummaging
through the living room, an
apartment resident confronted him.
The suspect then fled the scene
without any property.
On July 7, the NYPD released an
image of the suspect.
Another burglar was caught
leaving the scene of another crime
with stolen property just three days
later. Police say that at 11:20 a.m.
on June 24, a 24-year-old woman
returned to her apartment, located
on Main Street in Astoria, and
found that some of her property had
been removed.
An investigation found that an
unknown man entered her apartment
through the front door and took a
keyboard and several electronics
before fleeing the scene.
The NYPD released the following
video of the suspect fleeing the
apartment with the stolen goods.
Call Crime Stoppers at 800-
577-TIPS with information about
the case.
103rd Precinct
Jamaica
Decomposing man found in converted bus
the 103rd Precinct
responded to a
report of a suspicious
vehicle parked in front of a location near
the corner of Liberty Avenue and 177th
Street at 10:40 a.m. on July 5.
According to published reports, cops
were drawn to the area after bystanders
noticed flies and a noxious odor
emanating from the vehicle — a former
school bus that had apparently been
converted into a food truck. It’s believed
that the bus had been parked there for
two weeks.
Upon arriving at the scene, officers
opened up the bus and found the
unidentified individual unconscious
and unresponsive inside the parked bus.
The New York Daily News said the body,
which was decomposing, was located in
the passenger’s seat.
The dead man’s identity has not been
released; his body was transported
to the Medical Examiner’s office for
an autopsy to determine the cause
of death.
110th Precinct
Jackson Heights
BY ROBERT
POZARYCKI
Cops continue
to investigate the
death of a man
whose rotting body
was found inside a
junk-laden vehicle
on a Jamaica street
last week.
Officers from
Hate crimes suspect still at large
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Police need the public’s help in
finding a man wanted for questioning
in a recent Jackson Heights pepper
spray attack involving a woman.
Law enforcement sources said the
hate crime occurred at around 4:18 a.m.
on June 29 in the vicinity of Roosevelt
Avenue and 82nd Street.
According to authorities, the
suspect — identified as 34-year-old
David Gonzalez — walked up to a 29-
year-old woman and dispensed pepper
spray into her eyes, then fled the scene
in an unknown direction.
Sources familiar with the
investigation stated that Gonzalez
had been involved in an incident that
occurred earlier that morning in which
24-year-old Paola Custodio allegedly
attacked two transgender activists
with pepper spray in the same area.
Law enforcement sources said that
Gonzalez attacked the 29-year-old
woman about an hour after Custodio
allegedly sprayed her victims. He
allegedly told the victim, “This is from
before,” and then sprayed the woman,
authorities noted.
Officers from the 110th Precinct
and EMS units responded to the scene.
Paramedics brought the victim to
Elmhurst Hospital for treatment.
Gonzalez stands at 6 feet tall and
weighs about 170 pounds.
Anyone with information regarding
Gonzalez’s whereabouts can call Crime
Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish,
dial 888-57-PISTA).
10 TIMESLEDGER, JULY 12-18, 2019 BT QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
