8 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 14, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Serial thief trolling downtown Flushing, cops say
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Cops are looking for a bandit responsible
for at least eight grand larcenies
around downtown Flushing since late
October.
In each incident, police said, the
unidentifi ed man approached an individual,
stole their property and fl ed the scene
to parts unknown.
Details of the incidents, according to
authorities, are as follows:
On Oct. 29, at around 4 p.m., a 33-yearold
female victim was standing in front of
135-41 Roosevelt Ave. when the suspect
bumped into her and removed her wallet
from her bag. Th e suspect later used the
victim’s bank card to make $488 worth of
transactions.
On Nov. 4, a 32-year-old female victim
was in the vicinity of 41st Avenue and
Main Street around 3:45 p.m. when the
suspect bumped into her and removed
her wallet from her bag.
On Nov. 6, at around 5:40 p.m., a
36-year-old female victim was inside the
CJ Supermarket at 41st Avenue and Main
Street when the perpetrator bumped into
her and took her cellphone from her
pocket.
On Nov. 15, a 19-year-old female victim
was in front of 40-24 College Point Blvd.,
at around 7:10 p.m. when the suspect
removed her wallet from her bag. Th e
perpetrator then used the victim’s bank
card to buy a MetroCard totaling $1,122.
Photo via Google Maps/Inset courtesy of NYPD
On Nov. 17, at around 4:10 p.m., the
suspect was caught on video surveillance
exiting CJ Supermarket at 41st Avenue
and Main Street, unzipping a 58-yearold
female victim’s bag and removing
her wallet.
On Nov. 18, a 14-year-old female was in
front of the same supermarket at around
1 p.m. when the suspect tugged on her
bag and removed her wallet.
Later that same day, a 25-year-old
female victim was outside of 40-34 Main
St. at around 5:05 p.m. when the perpetrator
bumped into her and removed her
wallet.
On Nov. 29 at around 3:30 p.m., a
23-year-old female victim was in front
of 41-62 Main St. when the suspect went
into her right jacket pocket and removed
her cellphone.
Cops described the crook as a black
man between 50 and 55 years old with a
dark complexion. He was last seen wearing
a black coat, red sweater, white shirt,
white sneakers and a black hat.
Th ere were no reported injuries in any
of the eight incidents, which were reported
to the 109th Precinct.
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 or by texting their tips to 274637
(CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls
and messages are kept confi dential.
LIC restaurant worker spied on women in bathroom
Photo via Google Maps
A delivery man and dish washer was caught hiding a cellphone in the women’s bathroom of Holy Guacamole.
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @
angelamatua
A 31-year-old delivery man
and dishwasher at a Long Island
City restaurant admitted to
installing a phone inside the
women’s bathroom to snoop on
customers in the toilet.
According to a criminal complaint,
on Aug. 31 at about
10:30 p.m. a customer who was
using the bathroom at Holy
Guacamole located at 35-55
31st St. saw a camera phone
in the bathroom’s ceiling vent.
Th e woman removed the phone
from the ceiling vent and saw
that there was a video of her
using the bathroom.
The phone belonged to
Hector-Miguel Ramirez-Vargas,
the complaint said. When a
manager was told about the
phone he called the cops, the
New York Daily News reported.
Ramirez-Vargas fl ed the
scene and stopped showing up
for work.
But on Dec. 6, cops found
Ramirez-Vargas and arrested
him for second-degree unlawful
surveillance.
“I work as a delivery man and
dishwasher,” Ramirez-Vargas
allegedly told police in statements
noted in the criminal
complaint. “When I would see
attractive women in the restaurant
I would put my cell phone
in the women’s bathroom to
record them using the bathroom
for my own personal pleasure.”
Ramirez-Vargas is held on
$1,500 bond or $3,000 cash bail
and his next court date is set for
Jan. 9.
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