Metro

Daily Blotter

The Bronx

A thief stole jewelry and cash from an elderly woman in Schuylerville, where he pretended to be a boiler repairman, police said.

The 75-year-old victim had made an appointment for a worker to come and fix the heating equipment in her home Monday, and the suspect showed up at about 11:30 a.m., cops said.

The man asked the homeowner to show him to the boiler room, tinkered around, and then said he needed to go get some parts, police said.

After he left, the woman noticed her dresser drawers were open and her jewelry and cash were missing, cops said.

The suspect never returned. He is believed to be in his 50s and had a black mustache.

Queens

An on-duty crossing guard was arrested in Rockaway Beach after being given a bag with cash and cocaine inside and failing to turn it in, law-enforcement sources said.

Bernard Pelzer, 58, was directing school children across the street at Beach 79th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard on Wednesday when he was targeted in an NYPD integrity test designed to catch department employees for misconduct, sources added.

He took a bag containing cash and white powder that looked like cocaine and tried to keep it, according to the sources.

He was charged with petit larceny, official misconduct, possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance.


A man who was arrested for trying to lure a 12-year-old girl into his SUV in Astoria has at least seven aliases and a record that stretches across the tri-state area, police sources said.

Registered sex offender Houshang Hamiki, 69, tried to coax the child into his vehicle on 49th Street and Ditmars Avenue on March 5 at about 4:15 p.m., cops said.

The girl refused and her babysitter approached, scaring Hamiki off, police said. Hamiki never updated his current address under the state’s sex offender registry requirements, authorities said.

He has several prior arrests that include criminal trespass, and endangering the welfare of a child in Nassau County and Connecticut, sources said.

Brooklyn

A man was shot near a Catholic school and a kindergarten in East Flatbush, police said.

The victim was on the corner of Avenue D and East 45th Street on Wednesday at about 8:40 a.m. when at least two men approached and one of them opened fire, cops said.

The pair fled in a gold Nissan Maxima, police said.

The victim was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was expected to survive, officials said.

Students from the Little Flower Catholic School and Get Set Kindergarten were not hurt, cops said.

Manhattan

Police have arrested a suspect in a fatal Washington Heights shooting last November.

Alvin Nelson, 37, and a friend got into an argument with victim Gregory Tate, 49, inside Tate’s building on West 156th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, on Nov. 29, cops said.

Video surveillance shows Tate running out of the building with Nelson and his pal in pursuit before one of the men began fighting with the victim.

The second attacker then pulled out a gun and shot Tate, police said. Tate was rushed to Columbia Presbyterian, where he was pronounced dead.

Police aren’t sure what sparked the deadly dispute.

Nelson was busted Wednesday and charged with murder and criminal use of a firearm.

He has an arrest record that spans more than two decades and includes at least 13 prior arrests, sources said.


Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who they say tried to rip off a woman’s clothes after following her into her Harlem building.

The 31-year-old victim entered her building Monday at about 10:30 p.m. and was checking her mail while the suspect lurked nearby and crept up the stairs behind her, cops said.

As the victim neared her apartment door, the suspect accosted her and went through her pockets, trying to steal her cellphone, police said. The woman fought back and the suspect retreated down the steps, police said.

The mugger waited until the victim opened her apartment door before running back up to the landing and into her apartment, video surveillance shows.

He tried to tear off the woman’s shirt and pants, but she fought back and yelled, scaring the attacker off, police said.

The attacker did manage to get the phone before fleeing, officials said.

He is 5-foot-7 and was wearing a beige coat with a black hoodie underneath.