10 JUNE 18, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
POLICE BEAT
115TH PRECINCT
(JACKSON HEIGHTS, EAST ELMHURST, AND NORTH
CORONA)
Queens man stabbed to death
in Jackson Heights: NYPD
Police found a man stabbed to death in Jackson Heights Friday night, according
to authorities.
Police received a call just before 7:30 p.m. on June 12 regarding an assault in
front of 82-15 Northern Boulevard. Upon arriving at the scene, offi cers from
the 115th Precinct found 21-year-old Nicolas Caicedo-Velasquez, of 77th Street,
with multiple stab wounds to his chest.
EMS arrived and transported Caicedo-Velasquez to NYC Health + Hospitals/
Elmhurst, where he was pronounced dead.
There have been no arrests, but cops are searching for a man wanted in
connection with the homicide. Police described the suspect as having a light
complexion, slim build and a beard. He was last seen wearing an orange/
red polo shirt, a black baseball cap, blue jeans, black sneakers and a black
crossbody bag.
The NYPD released surveillance video and images of the suspect Saturday
morning.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-
57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the
Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter
@NYPDTips.
All calls are strictly confi dential.
106TH PRECINCT
(OZONE PARK, SOUTH OZONE PARK, LINDENWOOD,
HOWARD BEACH, AND OLD HOWARD BEACH)
Their luck ran out: Queens men cuff ed
for high-stakes heist
at Aqueduct Racetrack
Federal agents cuff ed two Queens men — including an Aqueduct Racetrack
security guard — on Monday for their roles in a six-fi gure heist at the racing
venue back in March.
Lamel Miller, 37, and Lafayette Morrison, 37, face federal armed robbery
charges for their roles in the March 7 caper, in which they swiped $280,000
in cash during an aft er-hours inside job.
Through an investigation, federal agents later determined that Morrison,
who worked at Aqueduct as a security guard, acted as an “inside man,” having
provided Miller and the co-conspirator with tips about when and where the
money would be moved into the vault.
“The defendants allegedly gambled that they could pull off a high-stakes
robbery with the benefi t of inside information, but thanks to the outstanding
eff orts of ATF Special Agents and NYPD detectives, they ended up on the losing
end of that bet,” U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said on June 15.
Law enforcement sources said Miller and an unidentifi ed co-conspirator
made their move at 9:45 p.m. on March 7 as track workers, including Morrison,
moved the bundle of dough into a vault. Miller and the unknown thief, while
wearing surgical masks, ambushed the guards near a stairwell and forced
them into a closet at gunpoint.
Miller and his cohort secured the cash and the employees’ cellphones, then
fl ed the track. Security camera footage showed the pair walking toward a
parking lot while carrying a garbage bag and a duff el bag.
Camera footage also recorded Miller, moments before the robbery, entering
the Aqueduct facility while speaking on a cellphone which investigators later
found discarded in a nearby trash can.
Detectives determined that particular device was a burner phone which
an unknown individual bought from a Metro PCS store in Jamaica the day
before the caper.
Law enforcement agents, as part of their investigation, reviewed historical
cell-site records that found Miller’s actual phone and burner phone made calls
on the same cell tower on March 7. Miller had made calls on the burner phone
to his wife, another woman and his mother, prosecutors said.
A second discarded phone found at the track on the night of the caper was
also determined to be a burner phone that Morrison used, federal agents
added.
Authorities also learned that Miller and Morrison have been longtime associates;
they were both arrested back in 2000 for a Queens robbery. Phone
records also indicated that they had made 38 calls to each other on their actual
phones between March 6 and 7.
“This alleged crew may have seen their inside job as a day at the races, but
our arrests and federal complaints prove otherwise,” Police Commissioner
Dermot Shea said. “Our partnerships, precision policing and vigilance in
fi ghting for victims remains strong.
Both Miller and Morrison each face up to 20 years in federal prison if
convicted.
104 PRECINCT BLOTTER
The 104th Precinct released
the following list of persons arrested
in recent police actions.
The charges are accusations,
and all individuals listed in this
blotter are presumed innocent
until proven guilty.
For questions about the names
listed in the blotter, contact the
104th Precinct at 718-386-3004.
June 8: (Glendale) Eric Corona,
at Myrtle Avenue, for criminal
mischief, by PO Lama. (Maspeth)
Daniela Barba, at Flushing Avenue
and 59th Street, for driving
while intoxicated, by PO Feliciano.
(Ridgewood) Joseph Murphy, at
Catalpa Avenue, for aggravated
contempt, by Det. Gerardi.
June 9: (Maspeth) Kathleen Suarez,
at 70th Street, for third degree
assault, by PO Candelaria.
June 10: (Middle Village) Sebastian
Duque, at Goldington Court
and 84th Place, for third degree
assault, by PO Bonilla. (Ridgewood)
Jose Yanez, at 64th Street,
at 64th Street, for third degree
assault, by PO Mark. (Middle Village)
Aaron Murreld, at Metropolitan
Avenue, for third degree
grand larceny, by PO Valdemar.
(Ridgewood) Luis Torres and Millie
Adorno, at Catalpa Avenue, for
burglary, by Det. Fogus.
June 11: (Ridgewood) Warren
Lawrence, at Catalpa Avenue, for
aggravated criminal contempt, by
Det. Gerardi. (Ridgewood) Pierce
Dushan, at Myrtle Avenue, for
petit larceny, by PO Chowdhury.
(Ridgewood) Carmana Juan, at
Decatur Street, for third degree
assault, by PO Gomez. (Middle
Village) Krom Leszek, at Metropolitan
Avenue, for petit larceny,
by PO Johnson. (Glendale) Harris
Kirkland, at Cooper Avenue,
for third degree assault, by PO
Rannuzzi.
June 12: (Middle Village)
Frankie Hatton, at Juniper Valley
Road and 80th Street, for
misdemeanor forcible touching,
by PO Lin. (Maspeth) Ronny
Coello, at 56th Road, for obstruction
of government administration,
by PO Sheehan. (Maspeth)
Steve Coello, at 56th Road, for
misdemeanor petit larceny, by
PO Sheehan.
June 13: (Maspeth) Jessica G.
Buchmiller, at 69th Road, for misdemeanor
criminal contempt, by
Det. Scrimenti. (Maspeth) Samuel
Espinoza, at Nurge Avenue, for
felony criminal mischief, by PO
Singh.
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