Fatal hit and run accident on Ocean Parkway

Sadly a local man was killed late last night in a hit-and-run accident.

From ABC's 7online.com:

Police say 67-year-old Juan Sifuentes was struck by a dark-colored car while trying to cross Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn.


He was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital following the accident.

If you have any information that may help the NYPD investigation, please contact the proper authorities. If you have nothing but conjecture and wild speculation, please post in the comments area below.

Hipsters vandalize statue; local coffee shop gets famous

We've been hearing an awful lot about the shameful theft and apparent destruction of the mini Statue of Liberty from Vox Pop over on the other side of Coney Island Ave. In our opinion the video looks more like 'art' of the most tasteless, not to mention illegal, variety. I can't imagine terrorists would pay so much attention to lighting. That said, hopefully whoever is responsible gets pinched and has to pay for a new Lady Liberty. Speaking of attention, whoever the perps might be, Vox Pop now has an article on the front page of CNN.com. If anyone has info on this most heinous of crimes against iconic plaster, please contact the proper authorities.

Thanks to everyone who has been nagging us about this. We kid, we kid.

Local Crime

WOW! We just got this and are pretty alarmed. Anyone else know more?

Last night around 2:30am there was an argument between a group of people on McDonald, directly across from Foodtown and a group of individuals in a car. At once, there was one gunshot. More yelling and then the car peeled out, down Albemarle. It was overheard that the car, a white escalade, had Conneticut plates. Cops arrived within two minutes of the 911 call. It appears the victim was only shot in the arm.

Important Info!

From 1010 Wins:
Police: Two Men Posing as Cops Rob Brooklyn Grandmother
Officials said one of the men said he was a police officer and the other a detective and that they were both on official business. The grandmother allegedly let the men in her home on 17th Street in Windsor Terrace around 11 p.m. after the fake detective said he needed to speak to her grandson. Once inside the men robbed the home stealing cash and jewelry, police said. The two men allegedly held the grandmother and her grandson at gunpoint, but they were not hurt. The grandson said he didn't know the two fake cops. Police are still searching for the suspects.

Gentle Reminder

From the inbox:
There was a car alarm going off for quite some time in the middle of the night on E. 4th St., between Church & Albemarle!

Okay people! It's been proven that these loud alarms don't deter criminals from breaking into your car or stealing your stuff. Loud alarms that repeat and go off for hours at a time should be removed. If you really want a deterrent get a LoJack or another device that tracks your car. Especially if the alarm is sensitive enough to go off from a Harley or bus going by.

Police Helicopter on Sunday?

Thanks for the reminder Jesse... Anyone know what was up?

I'm just wondering if anybody knows what the deal was with all the police presence in the neighborhood on Sunday night (10/14). I came home around 10pm and saw a helicopter flying in circles between OP and CIA, shining a spotlight into the streets, seemingly looking for something or someone. They were at it for quite a while. There were a bunch of police/emergency vehicles blocking the street on E 8 north of Cortelyou Rd.

Recent Ocean Pkwy Accident

A Brooklyn man was indicted yesterday on manslaughter charges for running down a good samaritan who was helping a fellow livery cab driver in Kensington, Brooklyn.

Alexey Bushuyev, 22, is charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, driving while intoxicated, driving while impaired, speeding and reckless driving. If convicted of the top count, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Manslaughter Charged in Brooklyn For Fatal Good Samaritan Crash (Brooklyn Paper)

Accident Heightens Need for Bumps

A livery cab driver was killed early this morning at the corner of Church and Ocean Parkway (not Ocean Avenue as the article states).
A 22-year-old driver was arrested and is facing DWI charges after a crash early Wednesday morning in Brooklyn that killed a man, who had stepped out of his car to assist another driver. The multi-car accident happened around 1:20 a.m. when police say a green Lincoln Town Car from the Concord Limousine Service was disabled at the point where the Prospect Expressway becomes Ocean Avenue.

Driver Arrested After Fatal Car Accident On Prospect Expressway (NY1)

Police: One in Custody After Fatal Brooklyn Crash (1010 Wins)

Good Samaritan livery cab driver struck, killed (Ch. 7)

Livery Cab Driver Killed In Brooklyn; Man Charged With DWI (msnbc)

This is the exact location local residents have proposed for speed bumps. You can sign the ipetition for these speed bumps here.

Dead Man Near Park Circle

Someone had written us about this but we were hesitant to post anything 'til we got some info. Here it is...
Dead in Kensington A 35-year-old man was found dying from a head wound in a Kensington alley Monday morning, area cops said this week. As this paper was going to press, officials said that the medical examiner’s office was going to determine exactly what killed the unidentified male, although the head trauma he suffered may be a factor. The victim was found in an alley at 346 Coney Island Avenue just before 7 a.m. on August 6. Cops did not rule out that the victim may have committed suicide and jumped from the building.
Our tipster saw some police activity on the way to work and wrote us to get the scoop. This is all we could find. Anyone?

PS 230 - Unlocked gate draws nightly crowd and vandalism

Another from the inbox....

Ever since they installed the basketball hoops in the Albemarle Playground (shares lot w PS 230) there are people playing in the park at all hours. My husband is kind of an insomniac and he says most nights there are people in the park until around 3 in the morning. Some times its only a couple of guys playing a game that is fairly quiet and other nights it’s a group of people playing quite loudly. I don’t know if the cops ever go by that park and kick people out. I have never seen that happen. I also have not been calling the police or the 311 b/c I know 311 will just tell me to call the police and I know the 66th is not the most responsive precinct. The last time I called them about something I found the officers were extremely rude to me and basically told me they didn’t want to be bothered unless it was a serious crime. Since then I have been extremely reluctant to call the police.

Also before they did the renovation on the schoolyard they had an emergency meeting with people from the community, Brooklyn Deputy Commissioner from the parks departments, deblasio’s office and some representatives from the 66th precinct. One of the MAIN concerns people had was that the park would be used like this if the basketball courts were installed. The police assured the people at the meeting, and my husband personally, that they would patrol the park to make sure this wasn’t an issue.

I have had several neighbors tell me they also hear the same noise but I don’t know if any of them are calling 311 or the police, my feeling is that they are not. I plan to start calling the police and being as annoying as possible but thought you could post this to get some feedback on the course of action I should take.

So, does anyone have experiences like this at their local playground? We know the Friends of Greenwood coordinated with the parks department to have a local neighbor have a key to lock the park in case of issues like this....

Here are some of our thoughts. First, you must report this to the 66. This is a quality of life issue and should be taken seriously. If it is not then you can contact the Community Affairs Unit at (718) 851-5601 or Special Operations Officer, Lieutenant Selleck at (718) 851-5637. The CA would be your first go to if your complaint is ignored. Lieutenant Selleck directly oversees the units that are responsible for correcting many of the issues written about on the blog (like the unlicensed vehicle issue etc.). Secondly, this issue must be brought to the attention of local Representatives (i.e. Bill de Blasio or Jim Brennan). A park without lights and security is a breeding ground for illegal activity. This should certainly become a priority to local police and representatives. Finally we would suggest joining the local Dahill Neighborhood Association and attending the meetings with your neighbors. While we've found that a single complaint is shrugged off when many people make the same complaint it is heard. If none of this works take some video and send it here for posting... if it still doesn't get a response well at least we're maintaining our nancy drew/provinical vigilante-ness!

Why Borders are Important....

In the last week two crimes have been associated w Kensington that were clearly outside our borders. The first from the NY Times about a guy on East 21st who killed his wife then himself. The Times later corrected themselves and relocated East 21st to Flatbush. The second story (from Sunday morning) at 1010Wins.com notes a women living in Kensington since her address was Dorchester Road. Dorchester Road is to the west of Coney Island Ave. and is not Kensington but Flatbush or more correctly Ditmas Park. Differentiation of borders are important in cases like this because it associates crime to the area which consequently brings bad press.

E5th Car Break-in? Curious Plates!

Our friends at the building across the street from the 'abandoned' /'vandalized' VW Jetta on E5th rang to inform us that mysteriously a North Carolina plate was placed on the car. Weird since there were no plates on the car yesterday! If you look at the picture in the previous post there are no plates and we specifically watched as the officers wrote down the vin#. We called the 66 again today and got a less helpful officer (we had to explain the situation twice) on the phone who told us she'd send out a car (we even gave her our name and number) yet no car. We're starting to wonder if thieves are dumping here for a nearby chop shop to pick up when they're ready. We've had problems with the two car shops way down on Church Ave before so it certainly wouldn't surprise us if this was related... opinions?

Another car break-in?

Sunday afternoon we were walking the dog and noticed a VW on E5th St that had its driver side window broken in. We figured someone got hit but when we went to investigate noticed the car had no plates. We yelled up to a friend who lives in the building next door and called 311. Just gotta say sometimes 311 sucks. Because the plates were missing the operator told us this was a sanitation issue. But what about the broken window! It was obvious this was something beyond just a sanitation issue. Minutes after we made the report we logged in a call to the 66. Officer Hernadez took the call and not 10 minutes later the car pictured above responded. The officers took the vin # and left. Car is still there probably waiting on sanitation but we're impressed with the quick response from the 66.

On a sidenote when we first moved into the nabe a few years back heard that Kensington was often the dumping ground for stolen cars. We guess the low crime rate discourages the 66 from patrolling side streets with any regularity. Wondering though if it means the thieves live close by?

We'll post an update when the car is towed.

Recent Car Break ins!

We got word a car was broken into on E2nd St b/w Albemarle and Church Ave two nights ago. Before that we heard another car was broken into on Albemarle near E2nd. Walking the dog about a week ago we noticed broken glass on the street on E5th near Albemarle. Is this little corner of Kensington experiencing a sudden crime wave? If you've had a problem or break in, please comment so we can figure out if there is a pattern here.

From the inbox - a crime question

Maybe it was spurred by the recent shooting in PLG or this scuffle over in Ditmas Park or maybe b/c we've profiled a house or two with some bars on the windows....

You rarely talk about crime on the blog. I noticed one of the Kensington t-shirt slogans mentioned something about how Kensington is where criminals come to hide. Was that a pun or is crime really not a sore spot for K-town? Bottom line, is there really that little to report?

We generally think there is a very small issue with crime in Kensington. However, we always mention stuff when he hear about it and did a post on the peeping Tom and when a few delivery guys were robbed of cash at two buildings near Ocean Pkwy. Before we started the blog heard a women was asked for her bag outside the F on Church Ave (yeah, that's right he asked) and also know years ago there was an issue with apartments being robbed. That's really it. We've never walked home from the train alone and felt nervous and never seen anyone hanging on the corner with a group that we felt uncomfortable walking by. Sure, we have some obnoxious teenagers who drink in the playgrounds late night and some less then desire able drunks stumble out of Denny's on occasion. Overall most of the issues from people who email us tend to be that Church Ave needs some cleaning up and graffiti. Ok now everybody sound off in the comments and let us know how wrong or right we are....

Cheap Gas Guy Nabbed in K-town

In case you saw this go down the other night (like our tipster) and were curious... A guy with a mini-van was selling cheap gas out of the back of mini-van that he brought over from New Jersey. In this case he was fueling a livery cab on McDonald near Ave C when the hose ignited. Luckily no one was injured and the man was arrested.

Man selling gas on the cheap sparks small fire (NY Daily News)
Gas Goofball's Terror Scare (NY Post)

One More on "Tom"

Gosh, our masturbating "Tom" has really gotten us on the map!
Exposure sought for nude man (Perversion in Kensington) NY metro

More Press on Peeping Tom

We're pretty happy about the press our local peeping Tom has received. Because of the post done here both channel 9 news and Courier Life (June 8th print edition) have completed stories on the "Tom". We think its great that the word has gotten out and hope the guy gets caught!

For information leading to the arrest of the "Tom" or to report an incident call Detective Dawson at the 66th Precinct at (718) 851-5611

66 Update

Working hard to drive down the crime rate - 66th Police Precinct salutes crackerjack cop (Courier Life - 6/2/07)

According to the most recent police statistics, crime is down by just over seven percent for the year. As of May 20, a total of 469 felony crimes were reported, 37 fewer than the 506 reported during the same month in 2006. As of the meeting on May 17, no homicides had been reported to the command, officials said. The highest drop in crime – other than rape, which saw a fifty percent reduction for the year – was in car thefts, which fell by nearly 38 percent over the last five months. By May 20, 2006, 88 cars had been reported stolen to the cops in the 16th Avenue stationhouse, statistics show. At the same time this year, 55 car thefts were reported. Burglaries in the command have also fallen – by just over 26 percent, according to statistics.

The only two crimes that have shown an increase in the 66th Precinct so far this year has been in grand larcenies, or non-violent thefts of $1,000 or more – which also include credit card and identity theft – and felony assaults, which suffered a slight uptick in numbers, from 49 by the end of May, 2006 to 52 this year. Over the past month, felony crime in the 66th Precinct fell by nearly 12 percent, statistics show.

Security Alert - Local Peeping Tom

From a local neighbor:
On May 4, between 1:30 and 2 in the morning, we had a peeping Tom (wearing only a pair of bikini briefs) climb up onto the burglar bars of the bathroom window of our apartment (which is on the ground floor). He pushed the top of our window down so that he could peer in on X in the bathroom getting ready for bed. When X heard the window move she looked over to see him staring at her but he was not scared off when she initially started yelling.

Approximately two weeks later a peeping Tom was in the courtyard of the same building where our neighbor Z saw him. Z is also on the ground floor but faces the courtyard whereas we are on a side street. Z saw him directly in front of her bedroom window which was unfortunately open at the time (thankfully though she too has burglar bars). Z saw him outside her window in the courtyard completely naked with a paper bag over his head (w/ eyeholes punched out) masturbating. Z yelled through the window that she would be calling the police and he eventually went away.

Last November another incident involving a peeping Tom occurred just a few houses down from the incident detailed above and the police did not take a report! (In fact the police did not take a report on the first sighting of the peeping Tom detailed above. It was not until the second incident that the 66 started taking reports and investigating!) A little after 11 p.m. 'Tom' appeared completely naked wearing a bandana around his face (uncovering only his eyes) and pressed himself against the glass of a bay window on the front porch (lights on, curtains open) while two families looked on in total shock. Afterwards he ran down the street and disappeared almost instantly.

*While we do not know for sure that all incidents involved the same individual, we assume this may be the case.

Description
Caucasion male
early to mid 30s
Eastern European features (high cheekbones, slightly wide-set eyes)
blond/light or brown/sandy wavy hair
light eyes
approx. 6 feet tall and 200 pounds

If you have any information on this man please get in touch with Detective Dawson at the 66th Precinct at (718) 851-5611. ***Please note that when the first incident occurred at a building on E4th St, the police refused to take a report. It was not until the second incident, also on East 4th St, that the 66 would file a report. If you become (or have been) a victim of a similar crime in our area, please insist that they file a report.***