FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com OCTOBER 24, 2013 • THE COURIER SUN 3 Residents claim rash of car break-ins BY MAGGIE HAYES [email protected] Lock your doors – residents of one Howard Beach block fear car break-ins are becoming the norm. Rita Pristina’s Mercedes has been broken into three times since July outside her 90th Street home. After the third time, she installed a metal pole that retracts in and out of the ground, keeping the car secure in her driveway. “This is the way we have to live, which is terrible,” she said. During the third incident, just two weeks ago, Pristina’s car alarm woke her up around 1:30 a.m. She opened her bedroom window and claims she saw a tall man wearing all black inside her car. She yelled and said “get away from the car,” and the thief allegedly fl ed. Fortunately, all they took was the car’s “push to start” button. After installing the metal pole, Pristina additionally installed a camera system outside her home. “I feel horrible that I’m the one that has to live behind bars,” she said. “We happen to be honest, taxpaying people, but we’re the ones that feel like we’re incarcerated.” Pristina’s next door neighbor, Mary Ellen Krowicki, has also run into similar problems. Her Lexus was broken into, as well as her daughter’s boyfriend’s Mitsubishi, both of which were parked streetside outside her home. Quarters that Krowicki uses for parking meters were taken, and other things were thrown around the car. “I’ve lived here 34 years and never had a problem,” Krowicki said. The pair took their concerns to the 106th Precinct Community Council’s October meeting. They both had never reported the incidents, with the exception of Pristina’s third break-in, because they assumed they were “petty” crimes. However, the precinct’s new Commanding Offi cer, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, said that no matter how small the crime, always report it. That way, precinct offi cers can pinpoint a potentially problematic area and keep watch on crime-prone blocks. “Now that it’s going on, no matter what, report it,” Krowicki said. “They have to report it so we can get the help we need.” THE COURIER/Photo by Maggie Hayes Residents of one Howard Beach block have been victims of several car break-ins. PHOTO COURTESY OF RESORTS WORLD Resorts World Casino launched a new bus fl eet that will take patrons to and from Manhattan. GET ON THE BUS Resorts World welcomes free fl eet BY MAGGIE HAYES [email protected] Resorts World Casino welcomed a new bus fl eet, the Red Express, which will take patrons from Manhattan to the South Ozone Park gambling spot. Casino president Edward Farrell, Community Board 10 chair Betty Bratton and State Senator Joseph Addabbo greeted the Red Express buses as they pulled into Resorts World, coming in from their fi rst trip down from Manhattan’s Lincoln Center. The luxury buses will run every 30 to 45 minutes from 10 a.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday. They are free of charge and can hold up to 40 passengers. The West Side route begins at 96th Street and Columbus Avenue, and goes straight down to Central Park and Madison Avenue. The East Side route begins at 96th Street and Lexington Avenue, and goes straight down to Madison Avenue and Central Park South. Additionally, the Midtown route starts at 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue and runs through 6th Avenue and 50th Street. All routes end, of course, at Resorts World Casino on Rockaway Boulevard. GOOD SAMARITAN RESCUES MAN AFTER CAR CRASH BY LIAM LA GUERRE [email protected] Saving a drunken driver from a burning car crash was literally all in a day’s work for one Ozone Park resident. Fuel truck driver Alex Mitchell, 37, was on his shift when he stopped to rescue an allegedly intoxicated John Boisseau, who slammed his car into a tree near Exit 55 on the Long Island Expressway around 2 a.m. on Friday, October 19, police said. And following the crash, the good Samaritan got back in his truck and continued his 12-hour shift. “I didn’t think of my safety,” Mitchell said. “It just happened so fast.” Mitchell was heading to Holtsville in Suffolk County when he noticed the car in front of him started swerving in and out of lanes. He thought the driver was either drunk or sleepy so he tried to keep his distance, but suddenly the Chevrolet Blazer drove off the road and smashed into a tree. Mitchell stopped his truck, dialed 9-1-1, and ran towards the SUV because he feared it would explode since it caught on fi re. “Regardless of whether he was intoxicated… he is still a person and he was in need of help,” Mitchell said. At fi rst Mitchell couldn’t fi nd Boisseau and thought he had been hurled out the vehicle, but then he heard something coming from under the car. “I’m screaming ‘Hello is everybody alright,’” Mitchell said. “It was dark, smoke everywhere and then he said ‘I’m here, I’m here.’” Boisseau’s leg was stuck under the car, but Mitchell pulled him out with one hand while he was on the phone with 9-1-1. Shortly after, the car was engulfed in fl ames, which were later extinguished by the East Brentwood Fire Department. Boisseau was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and charged with driving while intoxicated by Suffolk County Police. Mitchell, who was in the United States Air Force from 1998-2002, called his boss to explain there was an accident and he would be late, but said nothing of his heroism. “I’m proud. It feels good to do something for somebody,” Mitchell said. “But the best feeling is my friends and family expressing how proud they are.” THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Ozone Park resident Alex Mitchell saved a driver from a burning vehicle following a crash on the Long Island Expressway.
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