Armed Robbery

 Armed Robbery

 

In January 1979 I was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the 90th Precinct in the Williamsburg section of northern Brooklyn. Before I arrived there, I knew that this precinct was the site of the famous 1973 Brooklyn hostage confrontation at the John and Al’s gun store.*

Four Black Muslims entered the store and tried to buy ammo for they were being threatened by a rival sect. When the owner refused, they produced sawed off shotguns, and the hostage incident began.

During the siege an Emergency Service Police officer was shot and killed by the perpetrators. His wife was a co-worker with my cousin Marilyn at CBS, and she was later instrumental in obtaining vests for police officers.

When I checked for the date of the John & Al’s robbery, I was shocked by what google reported. It was erroneously reported that police officer Gilroy was shot by either friendly fire or a ricochet bullet. Actually, he was shot with a scoped hunting rifle by one of the perps. What the author of this article is trying to say is that this is a hunting story out of Field and Stream magazine. I think he got his facts from the defense attorney’s pleas in court. If you did not know any better you would believe this to be the truth.

There would be a similar incident after I was assigned to the 90th, but things would turn out in a more positive manner. The Woolworths robbery started around closing time on a Saturday afternoon. Two foot police officers were notified that there was an armed robbery. As they charged into the store, they confronted three armed robbers and somehow subdued them.

Later investigation revealed that the robbers had heard the overhead subway train and seen a red flashing light and thought there was a heavy police presence outside. Also prior to this incident they had robbed and murdered a Chinese store owner in the Bronx for the lottery receipts.

I and my Anti-crime team would be the first responders who would assist in this on-going situation. Sometimes, like my first arrest, the element of surprise plays a very large part in the outcome. Eventually the robbers would be tried in the Bronx for the murder of the store owner, with one of the robbers turning on the other two.

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*Note. My brother thinks the John and Al's hostage crisis was dramatized on the first episode of the popular TV drama Kojak.

90th Precinct Demographics

Unlike the 30th, the 90th precinct was like a pie, with the Hasidic Jews comprising about 40-50% of the population, the remaining 50% were mostly Hispanics, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and then Blacks. When I began in the 30th I knew very little about Blacks, and now in the 90th I knew nothing about the Jewish Hasidim. My first commanding officer told me that they are very politically connected with the mayor’s office and vote as a 50,000 block. With a wink of the eye he said treat all equally but some more equal, and you will survive.

The Hasidic community is like a very large self-sustaining beehive. However, it can very quickly become a Hornet nest. They live in their own world with their old-world customs. They developed a security force and a private ambulance service manned by community members. They are holocaust survivors or descendants, and basically, they want to be left alone. It’s where their community boundaries meet with others that there is friction.

The Hasidim would celebrate Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, by walking down Division Ave to the East River. They would then take a live chicken and after waving it over their head three times cut the head off and throw it in the river. At first, I was surprised but later found out that the males used a rooster while the females used a hen. Later, environmentalists tried to get them to use a rubber chicken so as to reduce pollution.

Another custom that was observed, was the white beard of the elders. The elders were held in high respect and because my beard was graying, they took favor with me.

On the other hand, the males in the Hispanic community felt that having a beer in a brown bag did not violate the open container law. As a rookie sergeant I soon learned that I was in a different precinct than the 30th.

These demographics led me and my officers to devise what would become the Robbery Identification Program, RIP for short. We made binders of those who had committed robberies in each sector. This pilot program was so successful that my Commanding Officer got a promotion. Years later I would meet him and he asked, “Capo do you have any more ideas? I thought you retired.”

As I was getting familiar with this new precinct, my chauffeur, as we passed by South 3rd street and Driggs Ave, pointed out the building where Police officer Frank Serpico was shot during a set up attempt on his life. Later, Al Pacino would play the part in this same named movie, Serpico.

After I left the 90th a new wave of White Hipsters, who could not afford to live in Manhattan, started taking up residence in the precinct.

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Anti-Crime Unit

In January 1979 I was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the 90th Precinct in the Williamsburg section of northern Brooklyn. The parent command is the Patrol Borough Brooklyn North.

The old Williamsburg Bridge connects Brooklyn to lower Manhattan. It has 4 vehicle lanes in each direction and a two rail system in the middle as well as a foot path. What a feat of engineering!

In the middle of the foot path there was a zig zag, and there was an increase in robberies at this location. We asked for a volunteer female police officer to be a decoy, and almost all in the precinct volunteered as they wanted to be considered for my anti-crime unit. Well, we staked out the bridge with officers on nearby roof tops with binoculars. No sooner than we set up, the perpetrator came and after a brief scuffle the arrest was made. He wasn’t satisfied with taking her purse but when he put his hands on her she made the arrest. Later she would get promoted to Detective.

As each precinct had an anti-crime unit, I was one of the first to have a fully integrated one. I used to ask my fellow patrol sergeants for the names of their best officers to fill vacancies. Well there were two Black officers who at first refused because they didn’t want to be broken up. I said I want both of you. Later I named them the B&T express and both would retire as Detective first grade.* Also, I chose 3 females who more than distinguished themselves. Later I would meet my lifelong friend Detective Carol in the Narcotics division.

One day one of my chauffeurs said to me , “there’s the frog.” I said “what”? He said that before I was assigned to the 90th this person had committed a homicide and fled. He further said I knew he would someday return. The reason why he was the frog is because he had skin between his fingers. He made the arrest and the detectives closed the case.

Another interesting arrest: We responded to a robbery at the local Mc Donald’s and when the robber put the gun away he shot his finger off. Now as it had snowed we followed the blood trail and made the arrest. Later we went back to the Mc Donald’s to retrieve the finger which was thrown in the garbage by the enraged employee who had a gun pointed at her. She said hope they can’t affix it.

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*Note: The Black officers were Wilbur Bishop and Joseph Titus, thus the B&T express, two great detectives. Sadly, Joe Titus passed soon after his retirement.