12 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 18, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com police beat COMPILED BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF Wet Basement? Call artie Basement Water Proofing Specialist Serving Queens for 35 Years For more information contact Artie DiBiase Mason Contractor 718.767.0072 Licensed #08097 and Insured The Perfect Pet is Waiting for You! NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA has HUNDREDS of puppies, kittens, dogs and cats to choose from! Mixed-breeds, purebreds, small breeds too! OPEN DAILY FOR ADOPTIONS SUN - THURS 10 AM - 9 PM FRI - SAT 10 AM - 10 PM animalleague.org • 1.516.883.7575 25 Davis Avenue • Port Washington, NY Home of the Mutt-i-gree® FOLLOW US: 1.516.883.7575 109TH PRECINCT Bayside, College Point, Flushing, Whitestone Two robbers steal woman’s purse, then go on a shopping spree in Flushing: cops They came, they stole, they spent. Two crooks remain on the run after snatching a purse from a woman on a street in Flushing, then using her credit and debit cards to go shopping for food, according to police. Authorities said the robbery occurred at 4:15 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 12 in the area of Main Street and 37th Avenue. Law enforcement sources said the two suspects approached the 38-year-old woman from behind, pushed her to the ground, grabbed her purse and fl ed the scene. The purse contained her iPad, $30 in cash and her credit and debit cards. The incident was reported to the 109th Precinct. Following an investigation, police determined that the suspects used the victim’s cards between 6:24 and 9:35 a.m. that morning to make purchases at a McDonald’s restaurant located at 30-01 Stratton St.; a Stop and Shop supermarket at 31-06 Farrington Ave.; and an H-Mart store located at 29-02 Union St. Both suspects were described by police as black males between 20 and 30 years of age. One was last seen wearing a white tank top shirt and black-and-white sweatpants; the other was heavy set and last observed wearing a white tank top and dark-colored pants. Anyone with information regarding the robbery or the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS, visit their website or send a text message to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confi dential. 110TH PRECINCT Corona, Elmhurst Reputed street gangster admits to Corona shooting A 22-year-old gang-banger admitted in court on Aug. 10 that he shot a rival at a Corona nightclub last December. Brooklyn resident Jose Sanchez-Ortiz, 22, pleaded guilty to attempted murder before Acting Supreme Court Justice Suzanne Melendez, who scheduled sentencing for Sept. 20. Sanchez-Ortiz faces up to nine years behind bars and fi ve years’ probation, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. Prosecutors said Sanchez-Ortiz opened fi re on 21-year-old Jose Apolinar inside the Pasiones club on 103rd Street in Corona at about 10:43 p.m. on Dec. 14. Apolinar, identifi ed as a member of a rival street gang, was struck in the left arm; he underwent treatment at a local hospital for a severed artery. District Attorney Brown said that, according to the charges, Sanchez-Ortiz was inside the Pasiones club on 103rd Street in Corona on the evening of Dec. 14, 2015, when he shot at 21-year-old Jose Apolinar, a reputed member of the Los Ninos Malos street gang, and struck him in the left arm. Apolinar was transported to a local Queens hospital where he underwent surgery for a severed artery in his arm. Sanchez-Ortiz has been held in custody on $500,000 bail since his arrest back in March by the 115th Precinct Detective Squad. “The victim was wounded in the gunplay, but fortunately survived,” Brown said in a statement. “This kind of random, senseless violence has no place in a civilized society.” Homeless man arrested for stabbing and robbing a pregnant woman at a Corona train station A pregnant woman was robbed and stabbed at a Corona train station by a homeless man last week, according to police. The incident occurred at about 11:40 a.m. on Aug. 8 on the mezzanine of the 111th Street station on the 7 line, where the victim was approached by a suspect. Police identifi ed the suspect as 26-year-old Scott Gooden, who is homeless. According to law enforcement sources, Gooden displayed a rusty knife and demanded her purse. He then grabbed the purse from her and emptied the contents. The woman told him he was pregnant. Police said Gooden stabbed the victim in the right shoulder, then fl ed on foot out of the station and northbound on 111th Street. Offi cers from the 115th Precinct and EMS units responded to the incident. The victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was treated for a puncture wound. Following a search, police tracked down and arrested Gooden on assault and robbery charges. According to court records, he was ordered held on $75,000 bail at his arraignment hearing, and must return to court on Aug. 23. HOMELESS MAN GETS 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR FATALLY BEATING A MAN WITH A ROCK IN FOREST PARK A formerly homeless man is now spending the next 15 years in a jail cell for bludgeoning a man to death with a rock following an argument in Forest Park last year. Zoltan (a.k.a. Steven) Forai, 45, pleaded guilty on June 30 to fi rst-degree manslaughter for the June 2015 killing of Diego Piedrahita, 23, whose body was found a week after his death in the vicinity of Park Lane South and Woodhaven Boulevard. Forai was sentenced on Aug. 10 to serve 15 years in prison and fi ve years’ probation. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Forai and Piedrahita, who resided on Booth Memorial Avenue in Flushing, were known to each other and got into a fi ght sometime between June 8 and 9, 2015. Prosecutors said Forai kicked Piedrahita in the head and body, then picked up a rock and smashed him in the face and head multiple times. The deadly beating triggered a massive search and increased security in the days after Piedrahita’s body was discovered. Forai, whom police had identifi ed as a person of interest in the case, was spotted on June 19 drinking beer at the corner of Woodhaven Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue. Prosecutors said Forai had shaved his beard in order to avoid looking like the bearded version of himself which was featured in a photograph that police issued. He was initially arrested for drinking in public before being charged with Piedrahita’s death. “By his actions, Forai showed a total disregard for human life, and the sentence meted out by the court is justifi ed to keep the public safe and to punish him for this senseless crime,” Brown said.
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