FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 21, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Bayside restaurant owner helps cops nab oil thief
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A Bayside business owner helped police
to catch a thief earlier this month who
had been stealing recycled oil from his
restaurant.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, offi cers from the
111th Precinct arrested Flushing resident
Nigeme Rowe, who had allegedly been
siphoning used oil that restaurants put out
for recycling companies to collect.
According to Joe D’Alessandro of
D’Alessandro’s Corner Grill, an unknown
bandit had been hitting shops on Bell
Boulevard and in Whitestone. For the past
few months, D’Alessandro noticed that he
had not received invoices from his recycle
oil company. He spoke with other restaurant
owners on the boulevard who reportedly
said they had similar experiences
with their used cooking oil.
Captain John Hall from the 111th
Precinct confi rmed that a thief had stolen
$160 worth of recycled oil from the
rear of D’Alessandro’s restaurant. Th e fi rst
incident took place on Th ursday, Oct. 17,
and the second on Monday, Nov. 4. Hall
did not respond to inquiries about other
incidents in the area.
D’Alessandro said that the NYPD told
him that there was a three- to four-month
“open investigation” surrounding the incident.
Th e restaurant owner explained that
he and other owners regularly dump out
their used cooking oil into large drums,
which oil recycling companies subsequently
pick up and turn into biodiesel.
Th e companies then pay the restaurants
when they pick up the oil.
He told QNS that his oil removal company
had called him and inquired if he
had switched companies because they had
not collected oil from his restaurant for a
few weeks. So, D’Alessandro began staying
late at his restaurant to see if he could
catch the thief on surveillance video.
At around 2 a.m. on Nov. 5, D’Alessandro
was at his restaurant when he caught a
glimpse of someone on video coming out
of his back alleyway “with a hose.”
“Th ere was a big tank on the back of the
truck,” D’Alessandro said.
Th e suspect, later identifi ed as 21-yearold
Rowe, allegedly jumped into the truck
and D’Alessandro began following him.
He called 911 and reported the situation
to the operator, who put him on hold
and subsequently began tracking his cell
phone.
D’Alessandro followed Rowe down Bell
Boulevard and onto Northern Boulevard.
Th e restaurant owner said that when they
both turned onto 163rd Street, police
offi cers “swarmed” the scene and arrested
Rowe.
He provided police with security camera
footage. Upon further investigation,
D’Alessandro said that police discovered
Rowe had been taking used oil and “selling
it wholesale.”
“Instead of us getting paid, he was
siphoning it out and stealing it,” said
D’Alessandro, who added that Rowe
allegedly made “$2 a gallon” from the stolen
oil.
Photo courtesy of NYPD Queens South
NYPD Queens South held and emergency meeting in Ozone Park on Nov. 12 Cyprian Latewood/Wikimedia Commons
South Queens NYPD employs new
command center on Liberty Avenue
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Following a protest in Ozone Park’s
Liberty Avenue Plaza on Nov. 8 to
demand more attention from the 102nd,
106th and 75th police precincts, Queens
South Assistant Chief David Barrere held
an emergency meeting on Nov. 12 with
community representatives and electeds
to address their concerns.
In what was described as a productive
meeting, the NYPD promised to
implement a mobile command center on
Liberty Avenue starting immediately, in
addition to working toward other longterm
community demands like additional
lighting, security cameras and police
outreach.
Th e NYPD parks mobile command
centers in high-crime areas of the city.
Th e vehicles which are about the size of an
RV, are operated 24/7 by a police offi cer.
Th e decision to implement one along
Liberty Avenue came aft er a series of violent
attacks, several involving Muslim and
Bangladeshi members of the community,
that occurred along the strip over the past
several months.
Members of Community Boards 9 and
10, along with representatives from the
three police precincts, plan to do a walkthrough
on Liberty Avenue Th ursday
aft ernoon in order to identify spots to add
lighting and cameras.
Community members raised their frustrations
with long police response times,
which stem partly from the area’s split
between three diff erent police precincts.
One business owner recounted calling the
police and being bounced between precincts
before anyone would respond to
his complaint.
Chief Barrere said he would work on
the coordination between the three precincts.
Together, neighbors and NYPD representatives
agreed they need to reduce the
immigrant community’s fear that police
responders would ask for their immigration
status. Th e NYPD said that they could
print fl yers and brochures in Bengali that
would educate residents on their rights to
be distributed by civic associations.
“It was a very encouraging meeting.
We are very happy to see tangible results
being delivered,” said Mike Scala, legal
counsel and advisor to the Ozone Park
Block Association.
Photo of storefront courtesy of Google Maps; inset image of oil drums courtesy of Joe D’Alessandro
The owner of D’Alessandro’s Corner Grill helped cops catch a local oil thief.
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