12 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 21, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
police beat COMPILED BY EMILY DAVENPORT, RYAN KELLEY AND SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
106th Precinct
Howard Beach, Ozone Park &
South Ozone Park
Cop pleads guilty to lying
on offi cial paperwork
A former NYPD member who previously
worked in south Queens admitted
in court on Tuesday, June 19, that he
made misleading statements on offi cial
paperwork regarding a series of car breakins,
prosecutors announced.
Th omas Rice, 44, formerly assigned to
the 106th Precinct, pleaded guilty on June
19 to offi cial misconduct. He was sentenced
to a conditional discharge and
waived his right to appeal.
On 11 diff erent occasions between
Jan. 1, 2013, and April 1, 2013, Queens
District Attorney Richard A. Brown said,
Rice submitted offi cial police report forms
with false or misleading statements. Each
case involved vehicle break-ins during
which property had been reported stolen.
Law enforcement sources said that Rice
closed the investigations without performing
his due diligence. In the reports,
Rice listed non-existent addresses as
places he had interviewed witnesses and
included the same names multiple times.
For example, the name “Harry
Sadhadeo” appeared six times in his
reports — twice as a male and four
times as female — and it is believed that
Rice made up this witness and others to
include in his reports.
In May 2018, following a New York
Daily News expose, Rice was disciplined
by the NYPD, demoted from detective
to police offi cer, suspended and forced
to retire.
109th Precinct
College Point, Flushing,
Whitestone
3-day-old baby found
dead in Flushing
Authorities are investigating aft er
an infant was found unresponsive in
her Flushing home on the evening of
Saturday, June 16.
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On June 16 at around 6:02 p.m., police
responded to a 911 call regarding an
unconscious 3-day-old child, identifi ed
by authorities as Joyce Liang.
When offi cers from the 109th Precinct
arrived at the scene on 136th Street and
63rd Road, they saw emergency responders
providing care to the infant, who was
unconscious and unresponsive, according
to police.
EMS transported the child to NewYork-
Presbyterian Queens hospital, where she
was pronounced dead.
Th e medical examiner will determine
the cause of death. Th e investigation is
ongoing, law enforcement sources said.
Man punched teen in face
at Flushing station
Detectives are seeking the assailant who
punched a teenager in the face as they
walked down the stairs to the 7 train in
Flushing.
At 5:11 p.m. on June 9, an unknown
man was walking down the stairs into the
the Main Street—Flushing subway station
when he punched a 14-year-old boy in the
face. According to police, the victim and
the assailant had not exchanged words
prior to the attack.
Following the assault, the suspect fl ed
the scene on foot eastbound on Roosevelt
Avenue. Th e victim suff ered pain and
swelling to the face and was treated for his
injuries at Flushing Hospital.
Police described the suspect as a black
man in his 20s, standing 5 feet, 7 inches
tall and weighing 180 pounds. He was last
seen wearing a black baseball cap, a beige
shirt, beige pants, black sneakers and he
had on a black and gray backpack.
Call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
Drag racer gets six months in
jail for south Queens chase
A driver who led police on a highspeed
chase through Springfield
Gardens aft er getting caught drag racing
on the Nassau Expressway will now
spend time behind bars.
Queens District Attorney Richard A.
Brown announced on June 18 that Juan
Ramirez, 26, of West Farm Road in the
Bronx, will serve six months in prison
and fi ve years’ probation aft er pleading
guilty to reckless endangerment and
other charges related to the fast-and-furious
incident.
“Th is defendant endangered the lives
of many people, not to mention himself,
when he decided to race on our streets,”
Brown said. “Drag racing on city streets
is a disaster waiting to happen. A vehicle
weighing in excess of 2,500 pounds and
traveling at a high rate of speed is transformed
into a potentially deadly missile.
A bump in the road, the twitch of a
hand or even a sneeze could have resulted
in death and destruction. Th is kind of
behavior will not be tolerated in Queens
County.”
According to the charges, Ramirez
was behind the wheel of a souped-up
1992 red Honda Civic on Aug. 23, 2016,
at approximately 2 a.m. when a scene
straight out of an episode of “Cops”
unfolded.
Ramirez was observed racing with
another driver along the Nassau
Expressway in Queens by a police offi -
cer who initiated a car stop, turning
on the vehicle’s lights and sirens and
angling the car to cut off Ramirez’s
path. Ramirez slowed down, pulled the
Honda toward the side of the expressway,
but then hit the accelerator and
sped off .
A high-speed chase ensued as Ramirez
led police through Springfi eld Gardens,
exceeding 115 mph at times before
crashing into a fence in a cul-de-sac.
Ramirez then attempted to fl ee by accelerating
in reverse and nearly hitting
a police offi cer. Th e Honda’s bumper
was caught in the fence, however, so
Ramirez jumped from the car and was
caught aft er a short foot pursuit.
Ramirez pleaded guilty to fi rst-degree
reckless endangerment and participating
in an unregulated speed contest or
race in April.
108th Precinct
LIC, Maspeth, Sunnyside &
Woodside
Woodside wallet thief
scalds victim with coff ee
Cops are looking for a wallet thief who
poured hot coff ee on the victim aft er he
tried to stop her in Woodside.
According to police, at 5:05 a.m. on
May 28, a man was walking in the vicinity
of 64th Street and 39th Avenue when
an unidentifi ed woman approached him
and took his wallet.
Law enforcement sources said the victim
chased the woman, who removed
$250 in cash from the wallet before
dropping it on the ground.
Authorities said that the victim pursued
the crook to a store located at 63-37 39th
Ave., where a struggle ensued. Th e suspect
then poured hot coff ee on the victim’s
neck and back before fl eeing the scene.
Offi cers from the 108th Precinct and
EMS units responded to the scene.
Paramedics brought the victim to a
local hospital, where he was treated for
third-degree burns.
Anyone with information in regards
to this incident is asked to call the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-
577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 888-57-
PISTA (74782). Th e public can also submit
their tips by logging onto the Crime
Stoppers website, nypdcrimestoppers.
com, or by texting their tips to 274637
(CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls
and messages are kept confi dential.