Wednesday Crime Blotter: Man Beaten With A Cane in Crown Heights, Police Release Peephole Video Related to Bushwick Houses Murders & More

CROWN HEIGHTS – An argument in the Utica Avenue subway station Monday morning spilled onto the street as a man assaulted another with a cane and a knife, police said.

The incident occurred around 9:20 am on Monday, September 24, when the suspect struck his 23-year old victim with a cane inside the 2/3/4 station at Utica Avenue, said police. The victim fled outside, to the corner of Schenectady and Eastern Parkway, but his assailant chased him, striking him repeatedly with the cane, then slashing him on the left arm with a knife.

EMS transported the victim to Kings County Hospital in “stable but serious condition,” police said. The suspect fled northbound on Schenectady, but was caught on surveillance video, which can be seen below:

BENSONHURST – Over the weekend, off-duty FDNY firefighter Arismendy Arias was arrested in the 62nd Precinct, police reported.

Arias was arrested at 3:00 am on Sunday, September 23, police said, and charged with criminal mischief.

CONEY ISLAND – Police are looking for two men connected to an armed robbery that took place in Coney Island earlier this month.

The incident occurred just after noon on Monday, September 17, at a residence near Neptune Avenue and West 36th Street, police said. The two suspects approached two victims—a 52-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman—while they were sitting on the porch of their home. One of the men pulled a gun and passed it to his partner, said police, and they demanded money from their victims.

Using the gun, one of the suspects struck the male victim in the head, while the second stole the man’s wallet, which had about $90 cash and some credit cards in it, police said. The robbers fled east on Neptune Avenue, one on a bike and one on foot.

EMS responded to the scene and treated the male victim for a laceration to the head. Surveillance video of the robbers can be seen below:

WILLIAMSBURG – Police are still trying to solve a pair of homicides that took place in the Bushwick Houses in Williamsburg in May of this year.

On the night of Friday, May 11, police responded to a call of an assault at 140 Monroe Street around 6:45 pm. Inside, officers found the body of 62-year old Ana Devalle. Devalle’s hands had been bound and she had been shot in the head, said police.

Responding EMS pronounced Devalle dead at the scene of the crime.

Less than 48 hours later, police received another call to 140 Monroe Street, on Sunday, May 13—this time for an unconscious male. In the apartment next door to Devalle’s, police found the body of Basil Gray, 54, who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his torso.

EMS pronounced Gray dead at the scene as well.

Police pointed to “forensic similarities” at the scene of the two crimes in May and were working to determine the killer. They’re also offering rewards totaling $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Now, police have released footage of three unidentified individuals who are wanted for questioning in the case, which appears to have been shot through the peephole of a door at the housing development. Watch it below:

Anyone with information in regard to any of the incidents above is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).  The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.