ON ALERT:
A cruiser is posted at an eatery whose address bears the same numbers as those of two shops where a killer (inset) struck. (
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Brooklyn cops yesterday stood guard at a storefront whose address has the same four numbers as two shops where a thug murdered the owners.
The ramped-up street patrols were posted outside the East Ocean Buffet, at 1778 86th St. in Bay Ridge, as part of a police effort to canvass the area for the killer.
The address of the Chinese restaurant includes two sevens, a one and an eight — the same digits on the clothing shop where Mohamed Gebeli, 65, was shot dead on July 6 and Isaac Kadare, 59, was killed in his bargain store last Thursday.
Gebeli’s store, Valentino Fashion, bears the address 7718 Fifth Ave. Kadare’s Amazing 99 Cent Deals store is at 1877 86th St.
“This is the 62nd Precinct, but other officers have been brought into the area. We’re looking for the guy,” said Officer Cruz, of the 94th Precinct, who was outside the buffet with his partner.
He would not give his first name.
“I’m here for at least the day tour, and someone is going to replace me for the 4 p.m.-to-12 a.m. shift,” said Cruz, whose marked police cruiser was parked outside the buffet most of the day.
He said no one had told him to stand outside the eatery because of its address and added, “If that’s the reason, I’m not privy to it.”
“We’re walking within a radius,” he said. “It’s not just two cars in this area. There are more of us.”
Buffet manager Kelsey Zheng said she and her staff were grateful for the police presence.
“We all do feel better that there are officers on the street,” she said. “It definitely makes me feel safer that I can see them.”
Cops from other Brooklyn precincts were seen patrolling Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst.
Police brass insisted that while the additional patrols were flooding neighborhoods, it was just a coincidence that two were posted outside the East Ocean Buffet.
Sources added that while it was possible that the killer chose his targets because of a bizarre fascination with the digits, it was not the main focus of the investigation, but they hadn’t ruled it out.
Zheng said she and fellow workers had been concerned about security even before the murders.
“We always come as a group, and we leave as a group,” she said.
Other shop workers in the area also said they feared for their safety.
“There’s always two or three people, and we’re never alone in here,” said Citali Amigon, who works across the street from the most recent murder scene, a Mexican bakery at 1878 86th St.
Additional reporting by Jamie Schram, Larry Celona, Ken Garger and Andy Soltis