Wednesday, January 09, 2008

You really have to wonder about some people...

Even for the once-notorious Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, it may have been a first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man’s Social Security check, the police said.

When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355 check, the police said.

They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that resembled the plot of “Weekend at Bernie’s,” a film about two young men who prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive.

“Hell’s Kitchen has a rich history,” said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, “but this is one for the books.”

There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron’s death, he added.

The roommate, James P. O’Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron’s body in the chair and wheeled it around the corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized.

They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said.

“He is outside,” Mr. O’Hare said, indicating the body in the chair, according to Mr. Browne.

The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late.

Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North station house.

Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.

The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud.

Mr. Cintron’s body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner’s office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural causes within the past 24 hours.


Some people are total idiots.

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Some old, some not as old, haven't seen much new that I like, other than a few country and jazz recordings.

"Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard
"I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
"Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills and Nash
"Hold Me" by Fleetwood Mac
"The Witching Hour" by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers "Harlem Nocturne" by Lewis Ray Cammarata
"Homeward Bound" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Are You Sitting Comfortably?" by The Moody Blues
"She's Not There" by The Zombies
"Baba O'Riley" by The Who

9 comments:

none said...

I bet they were hurting for a bottle of rotgut or a fix of some sort.

That's some desperation.

Anonymous said...

"Some people are total idiots."


AGREED.

Anonymous said...

I swear! Are people incapable of seeing the big picture? Unbelievable!

JDP said...

Did they really think they were going to get away with that?

JDP

H2o said...

Hmmm....

James Higham said...

Idiots? Well maybe but then again, Mr. C wouldn't be needing his cheque again, wold he?

LBJ said...

Lena Horne singing Stormy Weather album.

I've been in this business too long to be surprised by anything, in the stupid criminal activity category (hiding drugs in the fuel tank might seem like a good idea. . but it doesn't run when you switch to that tank then)

James Higham said...

She's not there was good but it makes one wonder about one hit wonders [or two or three].

Mike W. said...

Is it bad that I immediately read the guys name as "Mr. Clinton" and thought "wait, did I miss something?"