FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com DECEMBER 3, 2015 • THE COURIER SUN 3 Photo by Robert Stridiron A suspect, later identified as Cloyd Clarke of Jamaica, allegedly threatened two cab drivers with a machete in Ozone Park on the morning of Nov. 29. MACHETE-WIELDING MAN HARASSES AND CHASES CABBIES IN OZONE PARK BY ROBERT POZARYCKI rpozarycki@queenscourier.com/@robbpoz He got to ride in the front of a cab and the back of a police car — all on the same morning. A Jamaica man was collared on the morning of Nov. 29 after harassing a pair of cabbies and threatening them with a machete after being dropped off in Ozone Park, NYPD sources said. Police said the trouble began before 9:15 a.m., when a cab driver picked up Cloyd Clarke, 25, of Sutphin Boulevard at the corner of Liberty Avenue and 115th Street. Upon the taxi’s arrival, Clarke allegedly jumped into the front seat and got into an argument when the driver told him he could not ride in the front. Clarke eventually left the vehicle, but not without allegedly taking the driver’s Samsung tablet and $50 in cash, authorities noted. The driver later realized his property was missing and notified his fellow cab drivers via radio. Moments later, police said, Clarke called for and was picked up by another cab driver. The New York Post reported that Clarke again got into the cab’s front seat; the driver took him to his requested location, but reported a distress call via radio to other drivers. The second driver brought Clarke to a home on 115th Street near 95th Avenue, where the first driver met up with Clarke and demanded his property. According to reports, Clarke went into the home, then exited moments later wielding a machete. Officers from the 102nd Precinct, who were called to the location after receiving a 911 call about the dispute, managed to take Clarke into custody. The Post reported that an officer was hospitalized after suffering a cut to his hand in apprehending the suspect. Authorities said the officers allegedly recovered from Clarke a plastic bag containing a yet-to-be identified controlled substance. Clarke was charged with criminal trespass, menacing, petit larceny, aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon, police said. No charges for mom of baby left in R.H. church BY ANGELA MATUA amatua@queenscourier.com @AngelaMatua Holy Child Jesus Roman Catholic Church in Richmond Hill was the site of a miracle at lunch time on Nov. 23, according to Rev. Christopher Ryan Heanue. A 60-year-old male custodian placed a manger on the main stage as part of the church’s annual nativity scene and went to lunch at about 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 23, but when he came back around 1:10 p.m., he heard a baby crying. The custodian discovered the boy — who still had an umbilical cord attached and was swaddled in towels — in the manger, NYPD said. Heanue, the church’s administrator, said that the scene is usually not set up this time of year. “The creche was constructed earlier than usual, which is part of the miracle of this story,” Heanue told The Courier on Nov. 24. “It wasn’t s u p p o s e d to be set up yet.” The creche is set up during Advent, the spiritual season that begins four weeks before Christmas; according to tradition, the manger in the creche is left empty until Christmas Day, when a likeness of the baby Jesus is placed. Church staff called 911 right away, Heanue said, and the baby was transported to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition. The pastoral staff gave the child several nicknames, Photo via Facebook/Holy Child Jesus Church including “baby Jesus” and “John the Baptist,” a prophet who announced Jesus’ arrival to the world. Heanue said that a couple at the church would like to adopt the baby and make him a part of the community. “There’s a couple in the parish that would love to even adopt this child and they believe as I believe that this baby was left here as a gift to our parish, as a gift to our church,” Heanue said. “And how beautiful it would be if this child were to remain in our community?” According to the NYPD, the case is still under investigation and authorities are looking for the baby’s mother. On Nov. 25, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced that charges would not be filed against the mother, adding that she complied with the spirit of the state’s “Safe Haven Law.” “It appears that the mother, in this case, felt her newborn child would be found safely in the church and chose to place the baby in the manger because it was the warmest place in the church, and further she returned the following morning to make certain that the baby had been found,” Brown said.
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