12 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 18, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
police beat COMPILED BY JACOB KAYE AND ROBERT POZARYCKI
115th Precinct
Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst
and North Corona
Two-alarm fi re in
East Elmhurst sends
two to hospital
A two-alarm fi re inside a home in East
Elmhurst sent two people to the hospital
on the morning of Friday, March 12.
FDNY members fi rst received a call
about the inferno inside the two-story
home at 26-33 98th St. around 10:50 a.m.
on March 12, according to the authorities.
Firefi ghters arrived to fi nd the fi re
quickly making its way through the home
and upgraded their response, calling for
a total of 106 uniformed FDNY members
around 11:05 a.m., the fi re department
said.
Less than an hour later, around 11:50
a.m., fi refi ghts got the blaze under control.
Five people inside the home were hurt
during the fi re, though three refused
medical attention. Th e other two people
were taken to NewYork-Presbyterian
Queens Hospital. Th e fi re department
could not comment on the status of the
patients.
Th e fi re marshals will investigate the
cause of the fi re.
106th Precinct
Ozone Park, South Ozone Park,
Lindenwood, Howard Beach and
Old Howard Beach
Police fi nd man dead with
gunshot wound to chest inside
parked car in Howard Beach
Police are investigating the suspicious
death of a 57-year-old man aft er he was
found with a gunshot wound to his chest
inside a parked car in Howard Beach
early in the morning of Friday, March 12.
Th e NYPD fi rst got a call about the
unidentifi ed man inside the car, which
was parked at the corner of 95th Street
and 156th Avenue, around 3:30 a.m. on
March 12, police said.
Investigators arrived to fi nd the man
with a gunshot wound to his chest,
according to the NYPD. He was pronounced
dead at the scene.
Police later discovered a gun, believed
to be the one that produced the bullet
that killed the 57-year-old, lying on the
fl oor of the front passenger’s side of the
car, according to authorities.
Witnesses said the car, which was running
and had the air conditioning on,
had been parked on the corner since
Wednesday.
Detectives are investigating whether
or not the man’s death was by suicide or
homicide, police sources said.
Friday’s incident marks the second
time this week police have discovered a
dead body inside a parked car in Queens.
On Wednesday, March 10, a tow truck
operator found the body of 26-year-old
Destini Smothers inside the trunk of an
abandoned sedan in South Ozone Park.
Smothers, who was from Troy, New
York, went missing while in Queens in
November 2020.
Th e investigation into both deaths
remains ongoing.
106th Precinct
Ozone Park, South Ozone
Park, Lindenwood,
Howard Beach and Old
Howard Beach
Police fi nd woman’s
body inside trunk
of abandoned car in
South Ozone Park
Authorities discovered
a woman’s body inside the
trunk of a car parked in South
Ozone Park on the morning of
Wednesday, March 10.
Th e woman, believed to be
26-year-old Destini Smothers,
was found inside a black Toyota
Camry, parked outside of 149-
57 Leff erts Blvd., around 9:51
a.m. on March 10.
A tow truck operator discovered
the body aft er they
had come to move the abandoned
car, which didn’t have
any license plates, according to
the NYPD.
Offi cers from the 106th
Precinct cordoned off the residential
block as the investigation
began.
Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz arrived at the
crime scene around midday on
Wednesday.
Smothers, who was from
Troy, New York, went missing
in November 2020. She was
last seen at Bowlero, a bowling
alley in Woodside, according to
the NYPD.
Several of Smothers’ family
members and friends arrived
at an NYPD press conference
on the case at 1:30 p.m. on
Wednesday.
Th e investigation is ongoing.
/WWW.QNS.COM
