Crime Report: A Death in Custody, Women’s Shelter Assaults and B38 Bus Thefts

Angel Cordero, 39, was arrested at 3:56 a.m. on July 4 for allegedly stabbing a 48-year-old woman during an argument on the corner of Carlton and Myrtle Avenues. He died at the precinct stationhouse on Friday of an apparent seizure in a holding pen, police said.

Police summoned EMS to aid Cordero, who was in need of medical attention, to the stationhouse at 1:40 a.m. on Friday, describing him as a “sick patient,” according to Frank Dwyer, an FDNY spokesman.

EMS arrived at 5:30 a.m. Friday, nearly four hours later. By that time, Cordero was already dead, Dwyer said.

The NYPD Internal Affairs office is investigating the incident, as is protocol whenever someone dies in police custody. Meanwhile, the family is looking for answers and wondering if more could have been done to keep Cordero alive. Read our story on the incident, and keep checking back for updates.

Including the crime above, 20 felonies and eight arrests were reported in the 88th Precinct last week – the same number of felonies, but four more arrests than the previous week. Three more assaults were reported at the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter, continuing a recent trend. Two more thefts were reported on the B38 bus last week, totaling 15 thefts on the bus since the beginning of the year.

Early Morning Shooting

Someone shot a 29-year-old man in the right knee on Saint Edwards Street within the Ingersoll Houses on July 7 at about 2 a.m. and then fled. Officers unsuccessfully searched the area for the shooter, but did recover the shooter’s gun. Emergency Medical Services treated the man for a non-life-threatening injury and brought him to Kings County Hospital Center. Police are holding on to the victim’s clothing for investigatory evidence.

Street Assault

A 66-year-old woman was walking on Clinton Avenue near Park Avenue on July 2 at about 5 p.m. when two men approached her and one of them allegedly punched her in the face. The men fled south on Clinton Avenue, police said. The woman, who had bruising and swelling on the right side of her face, was taken to Kings County Hospital Center, police said.

Street Robberies

On July 4 at about 1 a.m., a teenager allegedly snatched a 53-year-old woman’s Samsung Galaxy cell phone on the corner of Willoughby and Vanderbilt Avenues. When the woman struggled to get her phone back, the teen allegedly punched her in the torso, causing pain.

Brian Emanuel, 17, was charged with robbery in the second and third degrees, grand larceny in the fourth degree, assault in the third degree, attempted assault in the third degree, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, menacing in the fourth degree and harassment in the second degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Women’s Shelter Assaults

-Monique P. Minor was arrested after she allegedly beat a 31-year-old woman with a metal chain-link belt, following an argument at the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter on July 6 at 2 p.m. The victim’s arms and back were scratched and bruised, police said.

Minor, 31, was charged with assault in the third degree, menacing in the second and third degrees, harassment in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

-On July 1 at 9:40 a.m., a resident of the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter allegedly threw a yogurt container at a 59-year-old resident, hitting her on the ear. Police have made no arrest in the assault.

-Following an argument at the Tillary Street Women’s Shelter, a shelter resident allegedly hit another resident over the head several times with a “Caution – Wet Floor” sign on June 2 at about 4:45 p.m. The victim, who felt pain on her head, received medical attention, police said.

Thefts on B38 Bus

Two brothers, Gary Council, 46, and Bernard Council, 47, were arrested in connection with two thefts on the B38 bus, one on July 1 and the other on July 2, police said. In the July 1 incident, Bernard allegedly took a 39-year-old woman’s wallet from her handbag on an eastbound bus at about 5 p.m. The woman got on the bus at the Lafayette Avenue and South Portland Avenue stop and got off at Vanderbilt Avenue, where she realized her wallet, containing $80 in cash, a library card and an insurance card, was gone. Gary used the cards at MetroCard machines and gas stations, police said.

On July 2, both brothers allegedly stole a 42-year-old woman’s credit card from her pocketbook as she rode the bus on Lafayette Avenue at Grand Avenue at about 5:15 p.m. The brothers bought MetroCards with the stolen credit card, police said.

The brothers were charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth and fifth degrees, jostling and petit larceny, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Wine Theft

Julio Flores, 53, was arrested after he allegedly threatened the owner of Gnarly Vines, a Myrtle Avenue liquor store, with a knife and then fled with a bottle of Domaine Lucien Barrott wine on July 3 at about 5 p.m. The store owner told police he chased Flores to the southwest corner of Myrtle and Carlton Avenues, where Flores returned the wine. At the corner, the owner got the attention of an officer. When the officer attempted to arrest Flores, he waved his arms around and resisted.

Flores was charged with menacing in the second and third degrees, harassment in the second degree, petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and resisting arrest, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

DUI Trouble

On July 4 at about 9:10 p.m., officers stopped Warren Combs, 41, who was driving in the opposite direction of traffic on Myrtle Avenue and Steuben Street while intoxicated and talking on his cell phone. Combs had slurred speech, glassy eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath, police said. When an officer tried to arrest Combs, he resisted and struggled, injuring the arresting officer’s elbows, according to police. Additional police units arrived to help the officer with the arrest, police said. Officers brought Combs to the 78th Precinct, where he allegedly refused to take a Breathalyzer test.

The arresting officer received medical attention, police said.

Combs was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, operation in the opposite direction of a one-way roadway, use of mobile telephones, assault in the third degree, harassment in the second degree and resisting arrest, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Scooter Shake-Up

Robert M. Alexander, 70, was arrested after he backed up his car into a police scooter, knocking the officer off the scooter and injuring him, on July 6 at about 9:30 p.m., police said. Prior to the incident, the officer driving the scooter had issued Alexander a summons for parking at a bus stop on DeKalb Avenue between Vanderbilt and Clermont Avenues. The officer was bruised on his right knee, police said.

Alexander was charged with assault in the second and third degrees, attempted assault in the third degree, reckless endangerment in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Thefts from Cars and Trucks

-A 28-year-old man told police his truck was ransacked while he made a delivery on Hudson Avenue near DeKalb Avenue on July 3. He stepped out of his truck to make the delivery at about 11:10 a.m., and when he returned at 12:30 p.m., he realized that $4,000 in cash, a backpack, a wallet and a drill were missing from inside. The stolen items were both business and personally owned, police said. The truck’s doors were unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. Cameras on both DeKalb Avenue and Hudson Avenue may be able to help in the investigation, according to police.

-A woman told police that she parked her truck on Willoughby Street near Long Island University Brooklyn on June 23 at 4 p.m., and when she returned at 6 p.m., multiple iPods, Discover, Capitol One and Chase credit cards, as well as a Chase debit card, were missing from inside. Video cameras in front of the parking spot may be able to help in the investigation, police said.

Home Burglary

A 44-year-old woman told police that she left her apartment on Carlton Avenue near Willoughby Avenue to run errands on July 5 at 11:45 a.m., locking all the doors but leaving the windows open. When she returned home at 4:30 p.m., the three front doors to her building were open, the door to her apartment was unlocked anad her Toshiba laptop was gone. No security system or cameras are installed in the building, police said. Police searched the area for the laptop, but were unsuccessful. Officers interviewed two apartment residents, who did not see or hear anything about the burglary, police said.

Unauthorized Account Activity

-A 28-year-old man told police that someone cashed one of his checks at a Grand Avenue bank on July 1 at about 2:40 p.m., in addition to six or seven other checks belonging to him – totaling 5,000 – at other bank branches.

-A 30-year-old man who lives on Carlton Avenue in the Atlantic Terminal Houses told police that someone withdrew $3,500 from his bank account between June 30 and July 3. The victim did not give his account information to anyone, he told police.

-On July 4 between 1 and 5 a.m., a woman lost her wallet, containing $10 in cash, a Chase Manhattan bank debit card, a Visa debit card, a Capitol One credit card and a Lexar USB card on Downing Street between Gates and Putnam Avenues, she told police. She later received a text message from her bank notifying her that a fraudulent charge of $793.57 was made using her account, police said.

Domestic Disputes

-Robert Jenkins, 38, was arrested after he allegedly choked his 17-year-old daughter and pulled her hair in their North Portland Avenue apartment in the Walt Whitman Houses on July 7 at 6 p.m. The daughter received medical attention, police said.

Jenkins was charged with assault in the third degree, menacing in the third degree, harassment in the second degree and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, according to the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

-A 25-year-old woman told police that the father of her children punched her in the face, cutting her lip and knocking out her front tooth, after an argument on July 5 at 12:45 a.m. inside an Ingersoll Houses apartment on Navy Walk. No arrest was made, according to police.