By Joe Vitale
One of two suspects in connection with a pair of larcenies last week involving a 3-card monte game was apprehended by the NYPD on Thursday, according to the Office of Public Safety.
The suspect, William Staley, was identified by two students who filed complaints with Public Safety.
According to police documents, Staley, 56, has been arrested more than 140 times for a myriad of crimes. He is a resident of Pinehurst Avenue, in Hudson Heights, Manhattan.
Both students who reported the crimes were able to identify the man in a lineup, who was described in the pair of safety alerts as “a dark-skinned male, 6’ 1” with a medium build, wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses.”
The woman in connection with both crimes also is suspected of grand larceny, but has not been apprehended as of Friday.
According to police, she was identified by one of the two students who submitted a complaint early this week.
Detailed in the alert regarding last Friday’s incident, Staley allegedly approached a Fordham student around 5 p.m. on Fordham Road and Webster Avenue whom his accomplice lured into a 3-card monte game. Staley grabbed her wrist and “pressed what felt like a knife into her back”.
According to the alert, he then took the student away from the 3-card monte game and “told her not to run nor call the police because ‘we are watching.'”
Along with the woman in connection with the incident, he took the student to a Bank of America ATM and instructed her to withdraw $500. In a separate withdrawal minutes after, he told her to withdraw another $300.
The alert describing Monday’s incident was similar, though no use of force was noted.
In all, the complaints showed that students handed over more than $1,000 to the two scammers.
In addition to the alerts sent to the Fordham University community on Monday, Associate Vice President of Public Safety John Carroll included a warning about scams in the area.
“This is the second incident in three days in which students were drawn into 3-card monte games at Fordham Plaza,” Carroll said in the email. “There are many kinds of street scams, of which 3-card monte is just one. All members of the University community are advised to avoid any street games, and to be wary if approached by strangers off campus.”
On Friday, he added that students should avoid street scams, adding that, despite promises of winning money, “nobody is going to give you anything.”
Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students Christopher Rodgers said on Friday that the University was “relieved to hear that an arrest had been made in the case.”
He added, “Resident Assistants, Commuter Assistants as well as other staff have also responded with additional floor/commuter meeting information related to safety off-campus and common scams and situations to avoid.”
The woman in connection with the crimes is described as being a 5’7″ dark skinned female wearing a pony tail.
Members of the local NYPD precinct are continuing to canvass the area in search of the woman.
Joe Vitale is Managing Editor at The Fordham Ram.
