8 JANUARY 18, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Sleepover end
with a violent
robbery in a
Ridgewood apt
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Photo via Twitter/@NYPD104Pct
Tyler Chancellor
Cops need the public’s help
in fi nding a man who spent
the night at a Ridgewood
man’s house before robbing and
assaulting him last week.
Police said the trouble began
at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 12, when Tyler
Chancellor, 25, woke up at the home
on Wyckoff Avenue near Putnam
Avenue and told the 25-year-old
male victim that he needed to step
outside and make a phone call.
Five minutes later, law enforcement
sources said, Chancellor
returned to the home with another
suspect, then went on the attack.
Both men punched and kicked the
victim about the body; Chancellor
then allegedly pulled out a stun
gun and zapped the victim.
Aft er subduing and restraining
the victim with zip ties and
duct tape, authorities said, Chancellor
and his cohort grabbed the
victim’s wallet, phone, keys, two
designer backpacks, semi-precious
stones, oil paints and $400
in cash. They then fl ed the scene
in an unknown direction.
Offi cers from the 104th Precinct
responded to the incident; the victim
was treated for various injuries
that were not life-threatening.
On Jan. 15, the 104th Precinct
tweeted out Chancellor’s image,
identifying him as a suspect in a
“home invasion robbery.”
Police described Chancellor’s
unidentifi ed accomplice as a black
man standing 5 foot 8 inches tall
with short black hair; he was last
seen wearing a blue jacket, gray
pants, a black hat and sneakers.
Anyone with information
about the robbery or Chancellor’s
whereabouts can call the
104th Precinct Detective Squad
at 718-386-2723.
Alleged bank robber turned in by his brother
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
When Ridgewood native
William Barbara received
a call from his brother on
Jan. 6, he thought it was just another
stream of lies.
His brother, Christopher Barbara,
had been struggling with drug abuse
for a few years. William Barbara told
QNS that he tried to help Christopher
get back on his feet many times, even
letting him stay at his home for two
months, but Christopher kept succumbing
to his addiction. He sought
treatment in the past, William said,
but Methadone only made the problem
worse.
Christopher Barbara, 32, allegedly
walked into the Chase bank at 60-67
Myrtle Ave. at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 5,
approached a 20-year-old bank teller
and presented a demand note, law
enforcement sources said.
Authorities said the teller handed
over $1,000 in cash to the suspect,
who then fl ed the scene on foot in an
unknown direction.
William Barbara, 41, didn’t believe a
word his younger brother was saying,
he said, until police released a picture
that began circulating around the internet
and concerned friends started
to contact him.
William Barbara began reaching
out to other people who knew Christopher
to see if he could fi nd him, and
then he contacted the 104th Precinct.
Unable to reach anyone there, he said,
William left messages and then tried
contacting the NYPD Crime Stoppers
The suspect, Christopher Barbara, was arrested and charged with
third-degree robbery.
hotline. He was referred back to the
104th Precinct by the hotline, and for
nearly a week his attempt to turn his
brother in went unanswered by the
authorities, he said.
Meanwhile, according to William
Barbara, Christopher showed up at
his mother’s house in New Jersey,
depressed and suicidal. The family
took him to Manchester Hospital for
a psychiatric evaluation, and he was
released aft er 24 hours.
At that point, William reached out
to the Ridgewood Times on Facebook,
desperately trying to help his brother
before things got worse. Aft er explaining
his story, the paper referred him to
the 104th Precinct’s Detective Squad
phone. William then said another
member of the community provided
him with one of the detectives’ cell
phone numbers.
Christopher Barbara was arrested
and charged with third-degree
Photo courtesy of NYPD
robbery on Jan. 12 and is currently
held on $20,000 bond or $10,000 cash
bail, according to court records. William
recounted the details of the story
with the Ridgewood Times on Jan. 15.
According to District Attorney Richard
A. Brown, Queens saw 172 suspected
fatal overdoses in 2017, more than
three times the number of murders in
the borough in the same year.
As a lifelong Ridgewood native,
William said, he has personally seen
the citywide opioid epidemic aff ect
his neighborhood over time. He said
it seems like “everyone that I know is
on some type of drug.” William’s only
hope is that Christopher will now have
the wake-up call needed to fi nally be
on his way to recovery.
“People feel helpless, and families
don’t know what to do,” William said
about opioid addiction. “I don’t really
know what the city is doing about it
either.”
Ridgewood Bank has a brand new chairman
Ridgewood Savings Bank
announced Leonard Stekol
is the new Chairman of the
Board of Trustees and Chief Executive
Officer, replacing Peter M.
Boger, who retired from his role as
the Bank’s Chairman and CEO as of
Dec. 31, 2017. Stekol will also continue
to serve as the bank’s president.
Stekol has over 25 years of banking
experience at Ridgewood. Most
recently, he served as a member of
the Bank’s Board of Trustees since
July 2016, as the Bank’s President
and Chief Operating Officer since
January 2016, and as the Bank’s
Chief Financial Officer from 2009
to 2016. He is a member of the
American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants, the New York
Bankers Association, the American
Bankers Association, and is a
Trustee of MercyFirst, a not-forprofit
human service agency.
“Leonard’s appointment fulfills
the formal succession planning
process put in place by our Board
of Trustees,” said Boger, who
remains a member of the Board
of Trustees. “I am grateful for
Leonard’s support throughout
my tenure at the Bank, and have
enjoyed working closely with him
these past several years.”
“I am grateful for the trust the
Bank’s Board of Trustees has
placed in me. I want to thank
Peter for his steadfast leadership
throughout his 18 years of service
to the Bank,” Stekol added. “I will
continuously strive to build upon
his successes and meet the
ongoing challenges of a rapidly
evolving banking industry, while
maintaining the commitment of
Peter and his predecessors to
retain Ridgewood Savings Bank
as a mutual savings bank.”
Photo courtesy
of Ridgewood Savings Bank
Chairman and CEO Leonard Stekol
