Kidnapper capture
Police have arrested a 30-year-old man in connection with a crafty kidnapping/robbery on Beverley Road.
Suspect Sharif Lee and three other men allegedly grabbed a fourth male on Beverley Road near East 52nd Street at 9 p.m. on December 14, pulled a gun on him and then shoved him into an awaiting van, according to police, who arrested Lee last week.
After taking $350 off the victim, they ordered him to call his wife, telling her to expect a visit at their East Flatbush home, police alleged.
Lee’s associates reportedly showed up at the home a short time later, flashed a gun and demanded to know where the victims kept their safe, police said.
The suspects reportedly found the safe, but were unable to take it out of the home, officials said. They did manage to rob the victim’s wife of $1000, police alleged.
Investigators charged Lee with robbery in the first degree, unlawful imprisonment, menacing and harassment. His associates were still at large as this paper went to press.
Tank boy busted
A 48-year-old man was arrested last week after he was seen allegedly trying to swipe an assortment of gas tanks from a factory on East 52nd Street.
Police said that Bernard Bamberg was allegedly seen parking his Dodge Caravan near the fence circling the factory at 6:15 p.m. on January 11.
He allegedly clipped the locks, went inside the property and raided two vans parked inside, removing two nitrogen tanks, two Freon tanks, two vacuum pumps and two torches, police alleged.
Witnesses called 911 when they noticed a hole in the fence.
Bamberg was arrested without incident, charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle,
He reportedly admitted that he had “been going into places where he shouldn’t have been and has been taking things that did not belong to him,” according to a complaint filed by the Kings County District Attorney’s office.
Beaten over hat
Two males attacked a third man because they had a problem with their victim’s choice of chapeau, officials alleged.
Police said that Tyre Moore, 17, and 30-year-old Anype Hyppolite allegedly jumped their victim at the corner of East 19th Street and Church Avenue at 6:40 p.m. on January 15 after asking their victim why he “was wearing that hat.”
The suspects reportedly struck their victim in the face and then motioned to their waistbands as if they were packing heat, police alleged.
When cops were called to the scene, Moore and Hyppolite ran off, but were soon rounded up and arrested, officials said.
Teen shot outside school
A teen was rushed to the hospital Monday afternoon after two gunmen opened fire on him outside a local school.
Officials said that the victim was near Intermediate School 285 on Beverley Road near East 59th Street on the afternoon of January 11 when the unidentified gunmen opened fire.
The wounded victim managed to stumble into the school’s parking lot, where a teacher’s aide rendered assistance until police arrived, according to published reports.
The victim, 18, who was rushed to the hospital with minor injuries, told police that he came to East Flatbush to take his girlfriend to McDonald’s.
The gunmen fled and were still being sought by authorities.
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding this incident to come forward. Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
Ghost bullet
Cops are trying to figure out a New Year’s morning shooting in East Flatbush that may only exist in the victim’s mind.
Officials said that the victim, who had been legitimately shot in the arm, showed up at a local hospital on New Year’s Day claiming that he had been shot on East 45th Street near Glenwood Road at 5 a.m.
He said that he and his friend were driving away from a club near the corner when they got into an argument with another pair in a second car.
Someone from that car opened fire, hitting the victim in the arm, the man claimed. His friend immediately hit the gas and sped off.
But what the victim didn’t know was that there was a warehouse across the street from where he said he was shot that had been converted to a night club.
That club, it turns out, was having the mother of all New Years Eve parties and the 67th Precinct deployed a squad of cops to the area to make sure the celebration remained peaceful.
At the time the man claims he was shot, there were over two dozen uniformed officers in the same vicinity, police sources said.
“He couldn’t have been shot there. We would have heard it” the source said, adding that no ballistic evidence or witnesses were ever found.
Still, detectives are investigating the shooting, which will remain an active case until it’s closed or the victim changes his story.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to come forward.
Calls can be made to the 67th Precinct at (718) 287-3211. All calls will be kept confidential.