Hi All,

Good news! Someone saw something AND said something!

At approximately 3:00 am on Tuesday morning, March 19th, the 110th Precinct received a 911 call from an individual stating two suspicious males were tampering with the mailbox on Grand Avenue at Queens Boulevard. The individuals were no longer at the location when the sector car arrived, but the officers spotted a vehicle nearby that matched the description given over 911.

The officers pulled over the vehicle and as they were speaking with the occupants they spotted a cord or wire in the cup holder of the vehicle. When one of the officers shined a light into the rear of the vehicle he saw glue traps strewn all over and clearly visible were approximately 40+ checks that were most likely going to be "washed".  The perpetrators "wash" off the information on the check, change the amount, etc. and then cash it for a large sum of money. (A glue trap is tied to a cord or wire and dropped into the mailbox to pull out the mail.)

PO Saponieri, 110th Precinct Community Affairs, said many of the envelopes in the vehicle had addresses in the vicinity of Grand Avenue.

This arrest would not have been possible if it were not for the witness who provided a detailed description of the perpetrators and the vehicle they were driving. These individuals have prior arrests but at his time we don't know what prior crimes they committed or whether these men were from our area. Perhaps we'll hear more at our meeting on April 1st.

Please, if you must mail a letter in a mailbox that hasn't been retrofitted, make sure it's mailed near the pickup time posted on the mailbox. 

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Hi All,

Please see important note below!!

Since our March meeting was cancelled due to snow, the 104th and 110th Precincts have provided us with crime stats for the past month. We have reached out to the 108th Precinct and will provide their numbers when we get them.

The 104th statistics include Maspeth and Woodside (Sector C) and the portion of Maspeth that falls within (Sector D)
The 110th statistics include a portion of Elmhurst (Sector A)

104th Precinct - PO Asar Sanad, Community Affairs
Burglaries
Residential locations:  
51-xx 72nd Place
73-xx 53rd Avenue
 
Commercial locations:                                        
70-xx Grand Avenue commercial location
46-xx Metropolitan Avenue commercial location

Felony Assault total 2. Arrest made 1
Felony Assaults locations:   
60 Road and 60 Street
53-xx Metropolitan avenue
 
Grand Larceny of a motor vehicle total 1.
Stolen Car Location: 72-xx 57 Avenue
 
Robbery Total 1. Arrest made 1
Robbery location: Grand Avenue and 72 place
 
Grand Larceny total 10. Arrest made 1.
From person 2
Locations:    
72-xx Grand Avenue
55--xx 69 Place
Unattended 3
Locations:     
56-xx 61 Street
60-xx 60 Drive
65-xx Grand Avenue 
Identity theft 5 
Locations:     
60-xx 60 Avenue
58-xx Metropolitan Avenue
52-xx 74 Street
62-xx Fresh pond Road
58-xx Metropolitan Avenue
110th Precinct - Captain Ventre, Commanding Officer
We have great numbers for south Elmhurst!
One burglary on Jacobus, through the rear, on 2/24
Car break-in on 79th Street at Grand Avenue on 3/9 about 2:00 pm.
IMPORTANT - Someone is watching!
We had at least one burglary that occurred when the homeowner left for only a couple of hours. Someone must have been watching! Burglars usually watch a location to make sure no one is home. If you have a "pattern" of leaving your house at a particular time, be alert and make sure no one is watching. If you or your neighbors see a suspicious person sitting in a car, etc. call 911. You won't get in trouble if you're mistaken but you very well may deter a burglar!
Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Hi All,

I spoke with COMET's officers and they unanimously agree that we cancel tomorrow's meeting. We still have snow from the last snowfall and I'm hearing anything from 5-8 more inches tonight. Parking is at a premium and there will be slippery conditions tomorrow night when the temperature drops. Better safe than sorry! 

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 1st and hopefully we'll be done with the snow.

If you have to go to work tomorrow, or want to know when your street was plowed you may want to check the website below.

PlowNYC@maps.nyc.gov/snow

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Hi All,


Just a reminder - we have our COMET meeting this Monday, March 4th, 7:00 pm at St. Adalbert Parish Center, lower level, 52-40 84th Street. Parking available.

We'll get updates from our elected official's representatives.

Crime stats from the 104th, 108th and 110th Precincts.

This is your opportunity to bring up any concerns that you feel needs to be addressed.

Hope to see you Monday!

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com

Hi All,
​
70th Street between Calamus and 53rd Avenues - Two males and a female

Yesterday afternoon a male rang my doorbell saying he was from Con Ed. He said he was here because I never responded to a notification sent to me and he needed to look at my bill to see if I had the right "code" or I might get a price increase. What he said made absolutely no sense and I sent him on his way. Four other neighbors mentioned they rang their doorbells too. The male who rang my bell had a chain around his neck with "identification" hanging from it.

My neighbor said when this male rang his bell he told him he was busy. The male offered to come back later. When my neighbor said no, the male then asked him for his phone number. My neighbor refused.

Another Maspeth resident, who is aware of these ESCOS coming around to get homeowners to change their company, almost fell for the scam when the person who rang is bell said he was giving out free light bulbs to help lower electric usage. The homeowner asked several times if this was a ploy to get him to switch over to another company and the individual told him "no" and all he had to do is sign something saying he received the light bulbs. After the individual left the homeowner had second thoughts and called Con Ed. Con Ed put a freeze on his account.

Neither Con Ed nor Brooklyn Union go around looking at people's bills. If you are not interested in changing companies the best advice we can offer is to send them on their way.

Roe Daraio, President
COMET Civic Association
www.cometcivic.com