Mother irate as manhunt snares innocent teenager

Police go all out trying to catch bank robbers, purse snatcher in Kingsbridge

By Tommy Hallissey

Talk about a busy afternoon.

In the span of an hour and 14 minutes on Sept. 25, robbers raced out of a bank on West 231st Street, a purse snatcher took off on West 228th Street, an officer who gave chase pulled ligaments in his legs, the 50th Precinct launched a massive manhunt for the suspects in Marble Hill and Kingsbridge and they mistakenly arrested a 16-year-old boy. By the end of the 74 minutes of excitement they had managed to take a suspect into custody for assaulting the injured officer, but a week later, two bank robbery suspects remain on the lam, and Vernetta Norman, the mother of the 16-year-old, is still livid over the way her son Marlon, a student at IN-Tech Academy, MS/HS 368 was treated.

The afternoon of agitation began at 3:16 p.m., when two men entered North Fork Bank at 185 W. 231st St. A 36-year-old black man, described as six-foot-three, 190 pounds, placed a grey plastic bag, containing a silver handgun on the teller counter.

"Give me money or I'll shoot," he said, according to police accounts.

The second suspect, who is believed to be a six-foot-tall black man in his 20s, instructed everyone to sit down and not move. They made off with $2,900 in marked money.

Police have released photos of the suspects and ask anyone with information to call CRIMESTOPPERS at 800-577- TIPS (8477). All calls are strictly confidential.

Four minutes after the bank robbery a 20-year-old Manhattan man allegedly snatched a purse in Marble Hill. Officer Carl Jenkins, a school safety agent, was on the scene and struggled with the purse-snatcher, identified as Michael Luna, 20. As they tussled, Officer Jenkins pulled ligaments in his legs and Mr. Luna got away.

Within minutes, dozens of officers swarmed to the scene and a police helicopter screamed overhead as they concentrated their efforts on Building 8 of the Marble Hill Houses at 5360 Broadway.

At 3:41 p.m., they thought they had their man as officers handcuffed Marlon Norman in front of Building 8. But Marlon's mother, a school safety agent, is now outraged, because she says her son was falsely arrested and brutalized. Indeed, the boy was released without charge shortly after he was taken into custody

Ms. Norman said Marlon was getting off the elevator on his way to work at the Harlem Children's Zone, where he is a tutor, when he was confronted by police. They wanted to get into her apartment in Building 8, she said, but she had told her son not to let them in since she was not home.

She is upset she wasn't given the professional courtesy of a phone call before Marlon was handcuffed. She identified Lt. William Taylor as the officer who roughed up the 16-year-old, pushing him twice and bumping his head against a wall. "He didn't give an F who I worked for," she said.

Marlon was treated at Lenox Hill Hospital for chest pains and a headache. "I think he is traumatized," she said. "I am myself. My son is a good kid."

Ms. Norman said she filed a complaint with the Civilian Complaint Review Board. She also notified the Internal Affairs Bureau of the NYPD.

Asked for a comment on Ms. Norman's accusations, Community Affairs Officer Mindy Ramos said, "That's the first we are hearing of it."

After Marlon was released, the manhunt was extended throughout Marble Hill and Kingsbridge. Building 8 was marked off with police tape as onlookers rubbernecked in the park behind the building. Confusion ruled the afternoon. Some erroneously thought an officer had been shot. But blocks away police caught up with Mr. Luna.

At 4:30 p.m., at the northeast corner of West Kingsbridge Road and Bailey Avenue, Officer Linda Serrapica arrested him in connection with the struggle with Officer Jenkins. Mr. Luna was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and three misdemeanors. He was not charged with the purse snatching that started the struggle.