SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Photo courtesy of Pravda Media

An ambulance struck a girl on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue X, leaving her seriously injured.

The accident happened just after noon. The girl was taken to Lutheran Medical Center where she’s in stable condition.

It’s unclear if the ambulance was operated by FDNY EMS or a private organization. The FDNY confirmed that the victim was female but would not give an age. Witnesses remarked on social media that it was a young girl.

Police closed the street off for more than an hour, and the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is investigating the circumstances of the accident.

This post will be updated as we receive more information.

UPDATE (2:26 p.m.): Video from the scene appears to show a private ambulance. The organization’s name cannot be seen in the video.

Pedestrian just struck, severely injured by an ambulance driver at Coney Island Ave & Avenue X, Brooklyn. #VisionZero

— Vision Zero for NYC (@VisionZeroNYC) July 23, 2014

This is a breaking news story and may contain inaccuracies. We will update it as more information becomes available. If anyone has more information or additional photos, please send them to tips (at) sheepsheadbites (dot) com.

40 Brighton 1st Rd (Source: Google Maps)

Officers from the 60th Precinct pulled the body of a 44-year-old man from a Brighton Beach building yesterday morning.

Cops were responding to a 911 call just after 11:00 a.m. of a foul odor coming from an apartment inside the building a 40 Brighton 1st Road.

When they arrived, they found a man unconscious and unresponsive. EMS came to the scene and pronounced him dead.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

It’s the second case in the past week in which a body was recovered from a Brighton Beach home. On Thursday, July 17, cops responded to a similar call on Brightwater Avenue where they found an unresponsive woman in her 40s, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner had not determined a cause of death in that case as of yesterday.

Source: mikey k/flickr

Police found a 49-year-old woman dead at a Brightwater Avenue apartment building on Thursday, spurring an investigation.

Cops were called to 1511 Brightwater Avenue just before 11:00 a.m. on July 17 for an unconscious female. When they arrived, they found the woman dead on the living room floor.

The woman’s identity has not been released to the public. It’s not clear who made the 911 call, or if that person remained on the scene.

The remains were sent to the medical examiner to determine the cause of the death. The medical examiner told Sheepshead Bites on Sunday that the cause and manner are still pending study.

Neither police nor the medical examiner would say if any criminality was suspected.

Click to enlarge

CompStat reports are produced by the New York Police Department on a weekly basis. We summarize the week’s statistics for the 61st Precinct reports every Friday. The 61st Precinct is the police command responsible for Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Kings Highway, Homecrest, Madison, Manhattan Beach, and Gerritsen Beach.

The suspects, as captured by the store’s security cameras. (Source: DCPI)

Would-be burglars didn’t do much to hide their faces from cameras during an attempted burglary, and now cops are using the footage to track them down.

Two men, pictured above, attempted to break in to the Verizon Wireless store at 2680 Coney Island Avenue early Friday, July 11.

At approximately 2:00 a.m., the suspects spent 15- to 20-minutes trying to pry open the store’s front door with a pair of standard pliers. They were unsuccessful at gaining entry, but left some damage to the door.

“I came into the store, I noticed the damage on the door and found the broken piece of the plier, and I called the cops,” said one of the business’ owners. “I don’t know what they were thinking [by attempting to break in with a plier].”

The owner reviewed the overnight security footage and spotted the pair above, and handed the photos over to police. The suspect with the beaded necklace has a tattoo on his right arm, notes the business owner, who asked not to be named.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Update (12:12 p.m.): We’ve added details to this post after speaking to the owners. Also, the date of the incident was changed. The NYPD indicated that the attempted burglary was July 14; the owners noted that it was July 11. The article has been amended.

Source: mikey k/Flickr

Police took a 54-year-old man into custody on Saturday after finding the body of his 62-year-old brother in the bathtub of his Luna Park co-op, with chemical burns to his chest and leg.

Cops were called to the scene at 8:46 a.m. following a 911 call for a man in need of help. It’s unclear who called the police, but when they arrived at the ninth floor apartment at 2819 West 12th Street the man attempted to block their entrance.

After a struggle, they restrained the man who authorities described as emotionally disturbed.

Once inside, cops discovered the unconscious and unresponsive body in the bathtub and called EMS. Medical responders declared him dead at the scene, and told the police that the male had chemical burns to the chest and leg.

The 54-year-old was taken to Staten Island University Hospital for psychological evaluation and treatment of chemical burns on his arms.

Neither of the men were identified by police, and the 54-year-old has not been charged with a crime.

The New York Times identified the two as brothers, and police told the paper that they’re struggling to get answers from the surviving sibling.

“Some of the stuff he’s saying doesn’t make sense,” a police department spokesman said.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of the death, and police are still investigating.

Click to enlarge

CompStat reports are produced by the New York Police Department on a weekly basis. We summarize the week’s statistics for the 61st Precinct reports every Friday. The 61st Precinct is the police command responsible for Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend, Kings Highway, Homecrest, Madison, Manhattan Beach, and Gerritsen Beach.

Bay View Houses (Source: Google Maps)

Lawrence Walden, 27, was found shot in the head last night outside of Coney Island’s Bay View Houses, across from Kaiser Park.

Police were called to 3112 Bay View Avenue at approximately 9:30 p.m. Thursday after being tipped off to an assault. They arrived to find Walden sprawled across the housing project’s walkway. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head.

Unresponsive and unconscious, EMS rushed Walden to Coney Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

No arrests were made, and the investigation is ongoing.

Walden’s listed address, according to police, is on Howard Avenue on the Crown Heights – Brownsville border.

As of June 29, the 60th Precinct, which covers Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Gravesend, has seen nine shooting incidents in 2014, with 11 victims. It’s a decrease from this time last year, when the precinct saw 13 incidents with 18 victims.

Authorities are on the hunt for the man photographed above, who is a suspect in two commercial burglaries including the ransacking of an office within the Beth Israel Medical Center at 3131 Kings Highway.

The man allegedly broke into two offices over the span of three nights in June, stealing roughly $60,000 in cash, equipment and other valuables.

Cops say the suspect waited until after closing to break into the Kings Highway medical center on Monday, June 23. He entered the property at approximately 6:05 pm., swiping a laptop and $160 in cash.

Just two days earlier, on June 21, the same man is believe to have broken into Glenwood Road Dental, at 5520 Glenwood Road in Flatlands. He made off with approximately $58,600 worth of dentistry equipment in that heist.

The suspect is described as a black male with long black braids and dark facial hair.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Police are searching for Robert Decarlo, a 26-year-old Gravesend resident suspected of being the driver in a hit-and-run yesterday on Flatlands Avenue that left a 12-year-old girl dead and her mother and 9-year-old sister in critical condition.

The New York Times reports:

Detectives are searching for Robert Decarlo, 26, whom they described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 170 pounds, with brown eyes and short black hair. His last known address was at 114 Avenue U in Gravesend, Brooklyn, a few miles from where the crash occurred Wednesday, on Flatlands Avenue and East 46th Street.

Around 4:40 p.m., a stolen 2005 Dodge Caravan minivan that was speeding westbound on Flatlands Avenue jumped the sidewalk on the north side of the street, the police said. The vehicle plowed into the mother and her daughters, and the driver fled on foot, the police said

The minivan was reported stolen from Tommy’s Auto Repair at 2029 McDonald Avenue last week.

ABC News has more details on the accident:

Police say the victims were walking on the sidewalk when the stolen 2005 Dodge Caravan jumped the curb and mowed them down. The driver, believed to be DeCarlo, fled on food.

“He lost control, he turn two times, boom boom, and then he go on top of the kids,” an eyewitness said. “We saw the two girls laying there bleeding, and like yo let’s move the car, there might be a third.”

“Me and a couple of other guys pushed the car up onto the hydrant,” another witness said.

Under the car, they found Joey Sellers.

“Her eyes were open and she wasn’t moving at all,” Shamar Brooks said. “She wasn’t blinking.”

DeCarlo has prior arrests for robbery and drug possession, and is currently out on bail for the March 21 assault and mugging of a 65-year-old woman in Brighton Beach. Cops say he kicked and punched her multiple times before fleeing with her purse.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.