The 11 calls that shook the Bronx overnight
A night on the police scanner, from a stolen ice-cream truck at 11:40 p.m. to a "large web, no suspect" at 4:50 a.m. Nobody was hurt. Several people were confused.
Every Saturday night a Bugle reporter sits with the police scanner from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and writes down what the Bronx gets up to. This week it got up to a lot. Nobody was seriously hurt. Several people were confused. One ice-cream truck is still missing.
11:40 p.m. Stolen ice-cream truck, Grand Concourse
The truck was taken while its driver was inside a pharmacy. It was last seen heading north with its music playing. "You'd think that would make it easy to find," an officer said over the air. It did not.
12:15 a.m. Dispute over a parking space, Mott Haven
Two neighbours, one space, one traffic cone that each claimed to own. Resolved when a third neighbour took the space.
12:50 a.m. Suspicious person on a roof, Fordham
Officers arrived to find the roof empty, the hatch open and the super "pretty sure it was the usual guy." The usual guy was not located.
“Large web, no suspect. Again.”
Officer, 44th Precinct, over the scanner
1:30 a.m. Noise complaint, Kingsbridge
A trombone. Not, the caller was careful to say, a bad trombone. Just a trombone, at 1:30 a.m. The player agreed to stop and was, by the officer's account, "gracious about it."
2:05 a.m. Ice-cream truck sighted, Bedford Park
Music heard, truck not seen. The pattern of the night.
2:40 a.m. Alarm at a pawn shop, Tremont
False alarm. A cat.
3:10 a.m. Man stuck in a tree, Pelham Parkway
He had climbed up to retrieve a drone. The drone was retrieved. He was not, for about 40 minutes, until a fire truck arrived. He told officers the drone was "for work."
3:35 a.m. Shoplifting, Fordham Road
Three bags of frozen shrimp. The suspect was found two blocks away with the shrimp and no plan.
4:10 a.m. Ice-cream truck sighted, Riverdale
The music, again. An officer suggested over the air that the truck might be "driving itself at this point." The dispatcher did not respond to that.
4:50 a.m. Large web, no suspect, Highbridge
A web, roughly 20 feet across, between two lampposts on a residential street. No suspect. No reason. The officer logged it as "large web, no suspect, again," and the Bugle has adopted that as the headline for its Monday editorial.
5:00 a.m. Sign-off
The ice-cream truck has not been found. If you hear it, call the 44th Precinct. If you see the web guy, call us. We pay.