Borough-Wide Blotter
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF
115th Precinct

Man Sought In Sex Attack

Queens detectives are searching for a man who attacked a 16-year-old girl in an abandoned building near her Elmhurst home on August 20. The victim had been shopping with her mother on the afternoon on August 20 when they decided to split up and go to different stores.

The teenage girl was walking near 108th Street in Corona at about 4 p.m. when she spotted a man standing in the doorway of an abandoned building. The man grabbed her and forced her into the building where he forced her to perform oral sex, police said.

The girl managed to free herself and ran to the street to call police.

The suspect is described as Hispanic with dark skin, in his late teens or early 20s, with a medium build and short black hair. He is approximately 5 feet, 6 inches tall and has a scar on the back of his left hand between his thumb and index finger, police said.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577- TIPS.

'I Didn't Know' Requires Money Alert Posters At JFK Airport

A Queens businessman accused of smuggling $100,000 out of the U.S. was acquitted on August 23 after his lawyer argued that his client did not know it was illegal to fly to Hong Kong with the cash.

In a highly unusual move, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Jack Weinstein polled each juror in open court after the decision was announced and then asked the panel for a show of hands to determine how many of them had ever heard of a requirement under the U.S. Patriot Act that states travelers must declare when they are carrying more than $10,000 out of the country.

Only two jurors were aware of the requirement, prompting Weinstein to order prosecutors to alert authorities to the jury's suggestion that signage be posted at the airport to warn travelers.

Chong Lam, 49, was arrested last April when he neglected to report the large amount of cash he was carrying when he attempted to fly to Hong Kong. Lam, of Douglaston, was stopped at the Cathay Pacific jetway by customs agents conducting a random search. He told customs agents he was carrying $15,000 but they found $30,000 in a carry-on-bag and $70,000 more in Lam's suitcase.

Lam told the agents he did not understand what he was being asked, or why.

Defense attorney Michael Dowd argued that Lam had paperwork proving the money was earmarked for a business venture in Hong Kong. Dowd maintained that Lam, a Chinese national who doesn't speak English, did not see any signs at the airport stating that he had to report the cash and that he had never heard of the law.