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QUEENS WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019
Bayside restaurant owner helps cops nab oil thief
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.
The owner of D’Alessandro’s Corner Grill helped cops catch a local oil thief.
Photo of storefront courtesy of Google Maps; inset image courtesy of Joe D’Alessandro
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