4 SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Car thefts on the rise in the 104th Precinct
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
/ @A_GIUDICEREPORT
The 104th Precinct is again seeing
a downward trend in crime
compared to last year, and over
the last 28-day period, however auto
theft s are still proving to be a pervasive
problem within the precinct’s
neighborhoods.
Caption John Mastronardi, commanding
offi cer of the 104th Precinct,
told attendees at the 104th Precinct
Community Council (104PCC) meeting
on Tuesday, Sept. 19, in Middle Village
that over the last 28 days crime across
the precinct is down over 18 percent
compared to last year, but grand larceny
autos (GLAs) are have been on
the rise.
“The only thing that’s driving up
crimes this month are GLAs,” Mastronardi
said. “GLAs happen to be up just
by fi ve, 17 versus 12 … so your cars are
getting stolen at a little bit higher rate
than normal.”
Although there have been fi ve more
GLAs since last year, offi cers have noticed
a specifi c type of vehicle being
targeted by these thieves.
“Most of the cars being stolen in the
104 happen to be cargo vans — white
cargo vans — a lot of these vans are
utilized for livery cab services, they
are used for construction services,
and believe it or not, they are used
for simply just a ride home,” Mastronardi
added. “They are easy to break
into, they are easy to steal and the
perpetrators love them for whatever
reason.”
Ridgewood Property Owners
& Civic Association
General Membership Meeting
Thursday, October 5th, 2017 at 7:00 pm
Ridgewood Presbyterian Church
59-14 70 Ave1/4 block East of Forest Avenue Entrance from side parking lot – no steps
Agenda
Alternate Aside
of the Street Parking ( ASP )
plus
A layman’s view of DSNY regulations, restrictions,
and possible ticket generating offenses facing
Ridgewood residents in 2017/2018
Catered sandwiches & salads by Frank’s Deli (Maspeth) @ 6:45 pm
Courtesy of Kerzner Realty, Inc.
Ridgewood Property owners are always welcome to submit a membership application,
subject to RPOCA Board approval.
For information contact: Paul Kerzner, President - 718 381 3366
In order to combat the rise in auto
theft s the precinct is having police
vehicles outfi tted with license plate
readers patrol the area. The license
plate reader scans the plates as it
passes by cars and provides the precinct
with information on that vehicle,
which could help determine if the car
was stolen.
Also during the meeting, Mastronardi
bestowed “Cop of the Month”
awards, donated by the Ridgewood
Times, on two of his officers who
showed great poise and cool-headed
thinking during an incident in August
that could have ended violently.
On Aug. 12, Offi cers Michael Casella
and Nan Chen were called to a family
dispute just aft er 4 a.m. When they
arrived on the scene they were met
by the mother of the suspect who told
them her son was acting irate.
The suspect was seen to have a large
butcher’s knife in his waistband.
Aft er numerous requests to drop the
weapon Casella and Chen were able to
engage the suspect and take him down
without fi ring or even drawing their
service weapons.
“Nothing short of extraordinary,”
Mastronardi said of his offi cers’ heroics.
“The reason why I picked these
two offi cers to be Cops of the Month
was simply because tactically they engaged,
they didn’t use their weapons,
they physically subdued an individual
with a large butcher’s knife.”
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell
also presented Chen and Casella with
citations from the New York State
Assembly, thanking them for their
quick-thinking and bravery.
Ridgewood man jailed
up to 15 years for killing
& hiding grandma
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
A Ridgewood man will be
spending a great deal of
time in prison for killing
his grandmother and then storing
her body in her home for several
months aft er her death, prosecutors
announced on Wednesday.
Christopher Fuhrer, 31, pleaded
guilty in August to second-degree
manslaughter and concealment of a
human corpse for causing the death
of Erika Kraus-Breslin, 85, in May
of 2016, then hiding her body in the
65th Street home they shared for the
following fi ve months.
According to Queens District Attorney
Richard A. Brown, Fuhrer went to
great lengths to mask the odor of his
grandmother’s decaying body, which
he kept in a second-fl oor bedroom.
He wrapped her body in numerous
plastic garbage bags, then painted
them over; he also hung numerous
air fresheners around the room.
Offi cers from the 104th Precinct
visited the home in October 2016
on a safety check at the request of
Kraus-Breslin’s relatives. They discovered
her body during their visit
and took Fuhrer into custody.
During the course of their investigation,
police learned that Fuhrer
had cared for Kraus-Breslin for fi ve
years up to her death. He initially
stated that he refused to report her
death out of fear of losing his home.
An autopsy conducted by the
Chief Medical Examiner’s office
determined that Kraus-Breslin
had died of asphyxiation and neck
compression.
At his sentencing on Sept. 19,
Fuhrer was ordered to serve between
5 and 15 years behind bars.
Photo: Anthony Giudice/RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Captain John Mastronardi (second from right), commander of the 104th
Precinct, and 104th Precinct Council President Len Santoro (at left) presented
Police Offi cers Michael Casella and Nan Chen with the Cop of the Month award.
