By JAMIE SCHRAM, JOHN DOYLE, KAVITA MOKHA and PHILIP MESSING
Posted: 3:46 am
July 24, 2008
Manhattan
A burglar who climbed through a furnace to sneak inside an Upper West Side apartment building was arrested after committing a second robbery, authorities said yesterday.
On May 6, Ronald Alexander, 45, slipped through the furnace into the laundry room at a residential building at West 102nd Street and Broadway, sources said.
There he allegedly swiped a DVD player, drills and other items.
Then, last Saturday night, Alexander illegally entered an apartment on Central Park West near West 96th Street, cops said.
When the resident arrived home minutes later, Alexander jumped out the first-floor window and fled, detectives said.
The woman gave chase and alerted building security personnel, who flagged down police.
During the pursuit, Alexander allegedly dropped a jewelry box and scissors taken from the woman's apartment.
He was caught and arrested, and detectives identified him as the suspect in the earlier robbery.
A man attacked a fellow street peddler with a chair and smashed the back windshield of a Lexus in Chinatown, authorities said yesterday.
Rafael Reyes, 46, got into an argument with another peddler who the suspect felt was hawking wares too close to Reyes' location at Howard Street and Broadway at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Reyes allegedly grabbed a chair and attacked the victim with it. Then he allegedly tossed the chair into the back window of the Lexus.
A cop grabbed Reyes.
The victim required seven stitches and a tetanus shot.
A deranged bench-sitter beat a man who tried to sit next to him in a Lower East Side park, authorities said yesterday.
Carl Gainey, 44, clashed with the 46-year-old victim in FDR Park at 2:30 p.m. on July 1, cops said.
Gainey, who appeared intoxicated, allegedly shouted "this is my bench" and smashed the victim in the head with a cane. On Monday, the victim spotted Gainey and called police.
Brooklyn
A gang of about eight thugs beat a man in Washington Heights last night before running off, police sources said.
The victim, who was not immediately identified, suffered a head injury and was rushed to Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.
A man fell into the East River from a party boat cruising off the South Sea Seaport and was rescued by the Coast Guard last night, sources said.
