Nov. 22-28, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
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Bayside biz owner helps catch a thief
THE GIVING SEASON
The New York Mets partnered with Hain Celestial to host a food drive benefitting The Mary
Brennan INN, a hunger-relief organization based on Long Island. Fans who donated at least 10
non-perishable items received a voucher redeemable for two tickets to a select Mets home
game in 2020. Photo by Dean Moses
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A Bayside business owner
helped police to catch a thief
earlier this month who had
been stealing recycled oil
from his restaurant.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, officers
from the 111th Precinct
arrested Flushing resident
Nigeme Rowe, who had allegedly
been siphoning used oil
that restaurants put out for
recycling companies to collect.
According to
Joe D’Alessandro of
D’Alessandro’s Corner Grill,
an unknown bandit had been
hitting shops on Bell Boulevard
and in Whitestone.
For the past few months,
D’Alessandro noticed that
he had not received invoices
from his recycle oil company.
He spoke with other restaurant
owners on the boulevard
who reportedly said they had
similar experiences with
their used cooking oil.
Captain John Hall from
the 111th Precinct confirmed
that a thief had stolen $160
worth of recycled oil from the
rear of D’Alessandro’s restaurant.
The first incident took
place on Thursday, Oct. 17,
and the second on Monday,
Nov. 4. Hall did not respond
to inquiries about other incidents
in the area.
D’Alessandro said that the
NYPD told him that there was
a three- to four-month “open
investigation” surrounding
the incident.
The restaurant owner explained
that he and other owners
regularly dump out their
used cooking oil into large
drums, which oil recycling
companies subsequently pick
up and turn into biodiesel.
The companies then pay the
restaurants when they pick
up the oil.
He told QNS that his oil
removal company had called
him and inquired if he had
switched companies because
they had not collected oil
from his restaurant for a few
weeks. So, D’Alessandro began
staying late at his restaurant
to see if he could catch
the thief on surveillance
video.
At around 2 a.m. on Nov.
5, D’Alessandro was at his
restaurant when he caught a
glimpse of someone on video
coming out of his back alleyway
“with a hose.”
“There was a big tank
on the back of the truck,”
D’Alessandro said.
The suspect, later identified
as 21-year-old Rowe, allegedly
jumped into the truck
and D’Alessandro began following
him. He called 911
and reported the situation to
the operator, who put him on
hold and subsequently began
tracking his cellphone.
D’Alessandro followed
Rowe down Bell Boulevard
and onto Northern Boulevard.
The restaurant owner
said that when they both
turned onto 163rd Street, police
officers “swarmed” the
scene and arrested Rowe.
He provided police with
security camera footage.
Upon further investigation,
D’Alessandro said that police
discovered Rowe had been
taking used oil and “selling it
wholesale.”
“Instead of us getting
paid, he was siphoning it
out and stealing it,” said
D’Alessandro, who added that
Rowe allegedly made “$2 a
gallon” from the stolen oil.
Reach reporter Jenna Bagcal
by e-mail at jbagcal@qns.
com or by phone at (718) 260-
2583.
Vol. 28 No. 47 52 total pages
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