FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM NOVEMBER 23, 2017 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
South Queens man
shot while fending
off home invaders
in botched robbery
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Hollis man was shot aft er three
men tried to make their way into his
house and rob him during an attempted
home invasion on Sunday aft ernoon,
police said.
At around 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 19,
authorities reported, an unknown man
approached the front door of residence
on 197th Street with a package while
two other unidentifi ed individuals hid
behind a fence. When a 12-year-old
boy answered the door, the man stated
that he had a package.
As a 50-year-old man approached
the door from inside the house, law
enforcement sources said, the man
with the package attempted to push his
way inside the house.
Police said the victim fought back,
pushing the fi rst suspect out of the
house and back toward the street.
Th en, a second suspect, who was still
behind the fence, displayed a gun and
fi red toward the victim.
According to the NYPD, the victim
was struck once in the thigh. Following
the shooting, all three suspects fl ed
southbound down 197th Street.
EMS responded to the scene and
transported the victim to Jamaica
Hospital in stable condition, where he
was released from soon aft er.
Police described the perpetrators as
black men. Th e fi rst suspect, who is
also described to be in his early 20s,
was last seen wearing a black jacket
with a hood, black sweatpants and
white sneakers with stripes. Th e second
suspect was last seen wearing dark
grey hoodie, and light grey pants and
the third suspect was last seen wearing
a red and black hoodie with the word
“NIKE” across the front, and light grey
sweatpants.
Anyone with information in regards
to this incident is asked to call the
NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at
800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 888-57-
PISTA (74782). Th e public can also
submit their tips by logging onto the
Crime Stoppers website (www.nypdcrimestoppers.
com/) or texting their
tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter
TIP577. All calls and messages are kept
confi dential.
Violent Ozone Park car crash
claims 18-year-old man’s life
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
sedan eastbound on Sutter Avenue
EMS units rushed to the scene. Lovelace-
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
at 10:05 p.m. on Nov. 18 when it collided
Loney, who suff ered severe body trauma,
with a second vehicle, driven by a
was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he
An 18-year-old man died aft er being
21-year-old man, at 80th Street.
was pronounced dead. Th e 21-year-old
involved in a two-car crash at an Ozone Park
Law enforcement sources said the
male driver refused medical attention for
intersection on Saturday night, police said.
impact caused Lovelace-Loney’s sedan to
his minor injuries.
According to authorities, Xylique
then strike two unoccupied parked cars at
The NYPD Highway Collision
Lovelace-Loney, 18, of 182nd Street in
the intersection.
Investigation Squad is still investigating
Springfi eld Gardens was driving a fourdoor
Offi cers from the 106th Precinct and
the crash.
Jamaica kids dig into start of playground project
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
City offi cials came together in Jamaica
on Nov. 17 to break ground on renovations
that will transform a public schoolyard
into a new community playground.
Working with the nonprofi t Trust
for Public Land, the city is renovating
the P.S. 140 (Edward “Duke” Ellington
School) playground into a state-of-the-art
green space ideal for children from ages
5 through 12. P.S. 140 is located at 166-
01 116th Ave. Once fi nished, the playground
will include a running track, athletic
turf fi eld, a handball wall, basketball
hoops, game tables, trees, play equipment
and a gazebo.
“Th e jazz great Duke Ellington was
an innovative musician who would have
been proud to see a playground of such
inventive and creative design be built
at the school that bears his name,” said
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz
at the ceremony. “Th is student-designed
and environmentally friendly playground
will be a critically important recreational
resource that will help our children be
physically active.”
Katz, along with Councilman I. Daneek
Miller and other community and parks leaders,
participated in the ground-breaking.
“Today we celebrate the unveiling of
the playground design conceived in the
imaginations of the students of P.S. 140
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington,” said
Councilman I. Daneek Miller. “Th is selfmade
concept embodies the true spirit of
a ‘For Us, By Us’ community based public
works model; a key principle of the Trust
for Public Land.”
Th e playground is being developed
through a Trust for Public Land program
that involves the input of students
and community residents in planning
and designing new community play areas.
More than 100 students from P.S. 140
participated in the design process, and
come next June, their vision for a new
playground will become a reality.
David Norment, principal of P.S. 140,
thanked Katz, Miller and the Trust for
Public Land for helping to make the project
happen.
“With P.S. 140 being awarded a fi veyear
Magnet grant, the construction of
our new playground is the cherry on top,”
he said. “We will all be waiting with baited
breath for when it’s completed and students
get to play in the playground for the
fi rst time.”
Photos courtesy of the NYPD
Schematic courtesy of the Trust for Public Land
A detailed schematic of the new P.S. 140 playground.
Photo by Robert Stridiron
Police continue to investigate a deadly car crash in Ozone Park on Nov. 18.