Borough-Wide Blotter
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF
109th Precinct

Firefighters Spark Jumpers

Four card playing employees at a Flushing business jumped from a second floor office window last week, when they thought firefighters responding to a false alarm were police raiding the card game.

The unidentified men, ages 36, 37 40 and 42 were playing cards inside an office at VJ Trading on Farrington Street when the firefighters arrived answering a call that smoke was pouring from the building. The card players jumped from the window to avoid arrest on gambling charges, fire officials said.

The men landed in an alley and were taken to area hospitals, where they were listed in stable condition with leg and ankle injuries.

According to police officials, the card-playing jumpers were not charged with a crime.

110th Precinct

Hunt Grocery Gunman

Queens detectives last week released a sketch of a man sought in connection with a series of recent grocery store robberies.

Police said the suspect entered the New Corona Grocery Store at Corona Avenue and 90th Street on February 27, where he threatened a clerk with a gun and swiped an undisclosed amount of cash from a register.

The same man struck again on March 5 robbing the New Woodside Deli on 73rd Street and Woodside Avenue. One week later he held up Queens Food, Inc. on Grand Avenue in Elmhurst and a fourth grocery store the same night grabbing an undisclosed amount of cash at gunpoint at both locations, police said.

The perpetrator struck again on March 31 when he pulled a gun on employees at the Maxi Mat Laundromat on Junction Boulevard and 42nd Avenue, according to the police.

No one was injured in any of the holdups.

The suspect is described as Hispanic, 25-30 years old, 5 feet 3 inches tall and about 190 pounds.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Crimestoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

111th Precinct

Franny Lew Motorist Claims Life Of Biker

An elderly man drove through a Bayside stop sign last week striking and killing a 25-year-old motorcycle rider.

Police said Werner Kleeman, 88, was traveling west on 46th Avenue in Bayside when he made a rolling stop through a stop sign at Francis Lewis Boulevard failing to come to a full stop. Kleeman plowed into the victim's motorcycle that was heading north on Francis Lewis Boulevard.

Kleeman, who was issued a summons for failing to yield went into shock at the scene and was taken to New York Hospital of Queens for treatment. The victim, whose name has not been released, died at the scene.

112th Precinct

Teacher Guilty, Loses License

A former math teacher at M.S. 190 in Forest Hills pled guilty last week to sending sexually explicit messages to male students over the Internet.

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Bradley Dieffenbacher, 32, will surrender his teaching license and will register with New York state as a sex offender, authorities said.

Dieffenbacher, of Long Island, pled guilty to attempted use of a child in a sexual performance and will be sentenced in June to six months in jail and 4 years probation.

Dumb Luck Ex-Con Catches Self

Queens police arrested an ex-con on April 8 for burglarizing a Forest Hills home where he dropped a letter that was addressed to him, authorities said.

Police said Dennis Davis, 53, broke into the home on 110th Street and 69th Avenue by breaking a basement window. When the homeowner returned from work, she found her furniture in disarray and the home ransacked- she also found a letter from the Legal Aid Society addressed to Davis, police said.

Police identified Davis and caught up with him a short while later. Davis, who had been released from prison a week earlier, subsequently admitted to the break-in, police said.

Law enforcement officials said Davis, who has served six months in prison for burglary related crimes, has an arrest record dating back to 1986.

Davis was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and criminal possession of stolen property.