111th Precinct Captain Says Robberies Up, But Crime Down

The 111th Precinct’s captain told attendees at a town hall meeting in Flushing last night that crime in northeast Queens was down this year, despite an increase in robberies.

Capt. Ron Leyson said there have also been two murders within the precinct, which covers Douglaston, Bayside and Little Neck, but no shootings.

The first homicide involved a Bayside man, who allegedly in February, while the second was a crime that was upgraded to a murder.

“The 111th Precinct is experiencing an exceptional year,” he told residents at a town hall hosted last night in Flushing by Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone. “We’re down seven percent. Statistically, we’re doing very well.”

But there has been an increase in robberies within the precinct this year. Last year, the 111th reported 63 incidents, while 70 have already occurred in 2011.

“A lot of our robberies involve youth on youth and involve small electronic items, such as iPhones or iPods,” he said. “And we’ve been drawn into a lot of pattern robberies, which probably has something to do with our proximity to highways.”

The precinct recently arrested a man who is alleged to have been responsible for more than 10 robberies. The man allegedly , demanded to see their phones and then snatched them.

During each incident, the man allegedly threatened to pull a gun on the victims, but never displayed one.

Leyson said the number of felony assaults is slightly down in the district this year. However, there have been a number of recent incidents.

“Very few of them had a history of arrests,” he said of defendants in the incidents. “They go from everything from strangulation (which was recently upgraded from a misdemeanor to a felony) to an empty plastic water bottle causing an abrasion on somebody’s face. It runs the gamut.”

The number of grand larceny auto incidents and burglaries are currently down, while grand larcenies are slightly up, according to precinct statistics.

The precinct reported five rapes last year as well as the same amount so far this year. Leyson said most of them were domestic incidents.