MANHATTAN
* Police yesterday were searching for a suspect in the fatal stabbing of an Upper West Side man.
Javier Garvas (above), 29, who also goes by Raul Galvez, allegedly stabbed Rafael Vargas, 55, in the head and neck in Vargas’ Amsterdam Avenue apartment near West 102nd Street at 4:36 p.m. last Nov. 28.
A friend discovered Vargas laying in a pool a blood in the hallway of the apartment.
Sources said Vargas had given the friend a key to check up on him.
Police did not disclose whether the suspect and victim were acquainted.
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Police grabbed a would-be SoHo bank robber after a teller pressed a silent alarm, police said yesterday.
Ervin McNair, 29, walked into the HSBC branch at Broadway near East Houston Street at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday and slipped the teller a demand note, cops said.
The teller hit the “holdup” alarm, and police quickly responded and nabbed McNair.
* Cops yesterday were looking for a knife-wielding thug who held up a man at an ATM machine in the East Village last month.
The unidentified suspect (above), in his 20s, confronted his 56-year-old victim at the ATM in the Chase branch on Astor Place at 6:40 a.m. on Dec. 29.
The 5-foot-10, 170-pound thief pulled a knife and forced his victim to use his ATM card to remove $100 from the machine, cops said.
The thug fled on foot southbound on Cooper Square. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, a black wool hat and a black jacket with white stripes on the collar and cuffs.
* A man has been charged in the June rape and robbery of an elderly Chinatown woman, police said yesterday.
Michael Szeto, 24, was picked up by detectives and charged with the brutal attack on the 88-year-old woman in her apartment.
Szeto and another accomplice allegedly followed the woman into her Pike Street home and forced their way in where they raped and robbed her of cash and jewelry.
A DNA match led cops to one of the suspects, and on Nov. 22 the victim picked Reggie Owen, 27, out of a police lineup. (lcf)
BROOKLYN
* A man and his girlfriend were arrested for assaulting each other in East New York, authorities said yesterday.
The incident began at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday when Sofia Saleh, 27, went to the Pitkin Avenue store of her live-in boyfriend, Sufyan Mohamed, 37, sources said.
The pair exchanged angry words after Saleh, 27, told Mohamed, 37, she wanted to end the relationship, sources said.
Saleh allegedly broke bottles of beer and juice on the floor. She also threw food packages around the store.
Mohamed allegedly shoved Saleh out of the store, sparking a brawl.
Saleh smacked Mohamed in the face and bit his hand, sources said.
Mohamed allegedly punched her in the face and kicked her in the back.
After Mohamed called 911, the two were arrested on charges of assault and menacing.
They both suffered minor injuries.
* Two women were arrested in connection with damaging a car and making threats during a road-rage incident in Cypress Hills, authorities said yesterday.
Kimberly Gillyard, 25, was in a car that halted at a stop sign on Logan Street and Ridgewood Avenue at 8:20 a.m. Wednesday when Cardell Spence, 51, drove up behind her and wanted to pass by, sources said.
Gillyard, who was allowing other vehicles to proceed, allegedly told Spence she had the right of way.
Spence got out of her vehicle with his steering-wheel anti-theft device and smashed Gillyard’s right tail light, sources said.
Gillyard grabbed a metal pipe and threatened Spence, then allegedly hurled a bottle that struck Spence. Police arrested both women.
Spence was charged with menacing and criminal mischief, while Gillyard was charged with attempted assault, menacing and weapons possession. (m, s)
THE BRONX
* A 17-year-old died after he was found with a stab wound in his family’s Claremont apartment, police said yesterday.
A friend discovered Julio Rivera stabbed in the upper right thigh in the doorway of the Findley Avenue apartment he shared with his mother, police said.
Rivera, who sources said had an arrest record for narcotics, was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died early yesterday.
Police said that his mother was not home at the time of the attack and that there was no sign of forced entry.
* A subway motorman was busted for public lewdness in Williamsbridge yesterday shortly after police received complaints of a man who was “flashing” passers-by, police sources said.
Ralph Strawn, 44, was nabbed at 1:50 p.m. at East 228th Street and Barnes Avenue by cops who spotted him driving a vehicle with two different license plates. (lcf)
STATEN ISLAND
* A loiterer was arrested on charges of trespassing and possessing a crack pipe in a Stapleton housing project, authorities said yesterday.
The cop spotted Joseph Simonetti, 43, hanging out on a staircase in the Stapleton Houses on Broad Street at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, sources said.
Simonetti was ignoring posted signs warning against loitering, and the cop found him in possession of the crack pipe in a bag, sources said.
He was charged with criminal trespass and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.
* Cops responding to a 911 call of a suspicious vehicle in Greenridge arrested two people after finding them in possession of prescription pills, authorities said yesterday.
Police arrived at Arden Avenue and Dover Green at 8:46 p.m. Wednesday and spotted Melissa Dabrowski, 34, and Matthew Cocozello, 39, in the auto, sources said.
When cops approached, they saw Dabrowski, sitting behind the wheel, reach into the center console, sources said.
Thinking she might have a weapon, the officers quickly removed the pair from the vehicle and searched it.
After police found Vicodin pills and a bottle of methadone, the two were arrested and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. (m, s)
QUEENS (lcf)
* A Rockaway warehouse that churned out counterfeit clothing, bogus DVDs and untaxed cigarettes was shut down yesterday, authorities said.
Five men, who were not identified, were charged with making and selling the counterfeit merchandise after cops executed a search warrant at a large storage room at 86-10 Rockaway Beach Boulevard.