12 THE COURIER SUN • FEBRUARY 2, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com police beat COMPILED BY EMILY DAVENPORT, SUZANNE MONTEVERDI AND ROBERT POZARYCKI • Masonry “When Only The Best Will Do!” Great Quality, Fair Pricing! Multi Specialty Physical Rehabilitation Center SPINAL & SPORTS INJURIES, ARTHRITIS, POST SURGICAL & MORE! • Pain Management • Internal Medicine • Acupuncture • Chiropractic • Physical Therapy We accept most types of Insurance & Workers Compensation Please call to make an appointment: 516-218-2222 40 East Merrick Road, Suite #104 · Valley Stream, NY 11580 Photos by Mari Estrella/ RHS NEWS, inset via Facebook/Efrain Vargas Workers remove body of 24-year-old Efrain Vargas from his home at 89-28 91st St. in Woodhaven, where he was found dead with trauma to the body. Photo by Robert Stridiron PROBE CONTINUES INTO WOODHAVEN MAN’S DEATH Police are investigating the death of a man who was found dead in his home in Woodhaven on the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 29. On Jan. 29 at around 3:30 p.m., police from the 102nd Precinct responded to a 911 call of an unconscious male at 89-29 91st St. Inside police found 24-year-old Efrain Vargas laying unconscious with trauma to his body. According to published reports, Vargas also sustained stab and burn wounds. EMS responded to the scene, where they pronounced Vargas dead. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation is still ongoing. ARMED DUO BUSTED FOR FRESH MEADOWS BANK HEIST The two individuals who attempted an armed robbery at a bank in Fresh Meadows on Jan. 28 discussed taking a hostage before being taken into custody by cops, according to the criminal complaint filed in federal court. Testimony revealed that an employee at the Chase bank on 176-70 Union Tpke. activated a silent alarm after the perpetrators — identified as 35-yearold Quaimme Davies of Cambria Heights and 39-year-old Edson Altino of Elmont — entered and demanded access to the bank vault at 9:11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28. Davies and Altino, who were armed with a .45-caliber pistol and wearing surgical scrubs, then entered the vault with four bank employees and proceeded to tie up two of the employees. Demanding more money, employees opened a teller window cash drawer and then granted the perpetrators access to the ATM room. Once inside, Davies opened the door of an ATM, activating an audible alarm, and attempted to flee the bank when he discovered NYPD officers from the 107th Precinct in the lobby. At this time, an employee heard the perpetrators begin discussing taking a hostage, but decided there were “too many cops.” Altino then tossed the magazine and the firearm in the direction of the officers and the duo was taken into custody. The total amount of cash taken by the duo totaled $133,794. Officers from the NYPD Crime Scene Unit remained at the scene after the arrests to collect evidence. The defendants will face federal charges. 102th Precinct Kew Gardens, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven MASPETH MAN COPS PLEA IN HOME DEPOT THEFTS After getting nailed by cops earlier this month for shoplifting from several local Home Depot stores, a Maspeth man has admitted in court last week to committing the crime, prosecutors announced. Kevin Marmolejo, 21, of 59th Road pleaded guilty on Wednesday, Jan. 25, to a third-degree burglary charge; he faces a sentence of six months in jail followed by five years’ probation, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. Law enforcement sources said Marmolejo and an accomplice — Armando Diaz, 43, of College Point, whose case is pending — were stopped by police on Jan. 10 while driving a van full of stolen Home Depot merchandise at the intersection of 130th Street and 23rd Avenue in College Point. According to prosecutors, the pair were observed leaving a Queens location that morning and driving out to a Home Depot on Jericho Turnpike in Nassau County. They allegedly entered the store at 6 a.m. and left 20 minutes later with more than $3,500 in stolen goods, including epoxy, house wrap, vinyl flooring, primer sealer and garbage bags. Later that day, authorities said, Marmolejo drove out to the Home Depot store in Deer Park, Suffolk County and filled his cart with $2,500 in merchandise, and avoided paying for it. The stolen items included recessed lighting, a Moen faucet, ceiling medallion and colored lightbulbs. QUEENS MAN PAYS FOR TWIN BROTHER ID SCHEME A sanitation worker from the Rockaways will have to pay back over half a million dollars to three city agencies after fraudulently collecting benefits under his deceased twin brother’s name for nearly two decades. Thomas Murphy, 54, pleaded guilty to grand larceny and falsifying business records, the office of the New York State Welfare Inspector General announced on Jan. 24. In October 1994, an investigation by Inspector General Leahy Scott revealed, Murphy began to use the Social Security number of his deceased twin brother, Robert, who passed away in 1962 shortly after his birth, to collect benefits. In an effort to conceal his dual identity, Murphy maintained separate addresses, bank accounts and driver’s licenses in his deceased brother’s name. He continued to impersonate his brother and collect public benefits totaling $581,805.80 from Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Social Security Administration and state rental subsidies through November 2013. Murphy will return to court on April 4. 107th Precinct Jamaica, Flushing, Fresh Meadows
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