8 JULY 11, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood man killed on Clearview Robber hits
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Cops are looking for the
latest crook who robbed a
Ridgewood cellphone shop
at knifepoint over the weekend.
According to police, at 5:30
p.m. on July 5, an unknown man
entered a Cricket Wireless store,
located at 56-58 Myrtle Ave.,
and approached the 21-year-old
female employee. The suspect
proceeded to pull out a knife
and demand money from the
employee.
The employee complied and
handed over $200 to the suspect,
who then fled the scene on foot
northbound on Seneca Avenue,
authorities said. The incident
was reported to the 104th
Precinct.
Cops described the
perpetrator as a white or
Hispanic man with a mustache
and was last seen wearing a red
shirt and black pants.
No arrests have been made at
this time. The investigation is
ongoing, according to police.
This heist occurred as
police are continuing to
investigate three knifepoint
robberies that took place
at stores in Middle Village,
Maspeth and Ridgewood over
the course of six days. Police
are currently investigating this
crime as a part of the pattern.
The location on the northbound Clearview Expressway in Bayside where a Ridgewood driver lost his life on
July 2 in a one-car crash. Photo via Google Maps
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
A 22-year-old man from
Ridgewood died shortly aft er
crashing his vehicle on the
Clearview Expressway in Bayside last
week, police reported.
Law enforcement sources said that
Edison Panora, 22, of Harman Street
was driving a 2012 purple Nissan
Maxima at a high rate of speed on the
northbound Clearview Expressway
just north of the 73rd Avenue exit at
11:58 p.m. on July 2.
Panora, who was alone at the time,
suddenly lost control of his vehicle,
which overturned. No other vehicles
were involved in the wreck.
Offi cers from the 111th Precinct and
EMS units responded to the scene aft er
receiving a 911 call about the crash.
Upon arriving, they found Panora
unconscious and unresponsive with
severe head and body trauma.
Paramedics rushed him to North
Shore University Hospital in
Manhasset, where he was pronounced
dead.
The NYPD Highway Patrol’s Collision
Investigation Squad is still looking into
the crash.
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Hundreds of people gathered
outside Immaculate Conception
Church in Astoria on July 3 for
the funeral of Luis Alvarez, an NYPD
detective and 9/11 fi rst responder.
Alvarez, who died from
complications with colon cancer on
June 29 at age 53, spent his last years
fighting for 9/11 first responders’
funding.
A former marine and bomb squad
detective who searched for survivors
in the aftermath of 9/11, Alvarez
testifi ed before the House Judiciary
Committee with former “Daily Show”
host Jon Stewart, urging legislators
to restore the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund, which is expected
to expire by 2020 without renewed
funding.
The funeral was attended
politicians and public figures
including Police Commissioner James
O’Neill, Congressman Peter King and
former Daily Show host Jon Stewart.
A uniformed procession of NYPD
offi cers as well as fi refi ghters and state
police stretched for blocks around the
church.
“Everything he said was said for the
benefi t of other people. He made a plea
that he had been many places and had
seen many things but he would have
been no other place but Ground Zero
or the Pentagon or Shanksville. As he
said, we stood up before the world and
said terrorism would not have its day,”
said Father John Harrington.
Harrington, who served as Alvarez’s
pastor when he was growing up in
East Elmhurst, spoke on Alvarez’s
personal life, his devotion to the
Marine Corps and Police Department,
and selfl essness.
The son of Cuban immigrants,
Alvarez, joined the NYPD in 1990,
where he served as an undercover
narcotics offi cer before switching to
the bomb squad. He is survived by his
wife and three children.
When O’Neill addressed the
parishioners, he made the political
point that no person who responded
on 9/11 “should ever have to beg our
elected offi cials to act,” citing the fact
that more than 500 members of the
NYPD have contracted illnesses as a
result of their work.
“Detective First Grade Luis Alvarez
was an authentic man. He let you know
exactly what he thought,” said O’Neill.
“At the end of the day, Lou just wanted
to do what’s right. And he wanted
others, particularly those in positions
of great power, to follow suit.”
While the House Judiciary
Committee voted unanimously to
support sick survivors and extend
the VCF until 2090, the full House is
not expected to vote on the measure
next month.
After Alvarez sent handwritten
note to Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell, the senator pledged to pass
the VCF bill before August recess.
“Please look deep into your conscious
and realize it’s the right thing to do and
if you pass it I will die a happy man,”
Alvarez wrote in his note.
The NYPD Emerald Society Pipes
and Drums help lead the funeral
procession
Ridgewood
phone store
Alvarez mourned in Astoria
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