QUEENS
* Police are looking for the public’s assistance in identifying and locating a thief (above) who has robbed banks in Ridgewood and Elmhurst, as well as in Brooklyn, in the past month.
The first heist occurred when the suspect walked into a Ridgewood Savings branch at 71-02 Forest Ave. at 2:14 p.m. on Dec. 2, cops said.
The thief slipped a teller a demand note and ducked out with an undisclosed amount of cash.
On Dec. 20, the bandit stuck again in Ridgewood, at a Banco Popular branch at 918 Seneca Ave. Last Friday he made off with more stolen loot when the thief robbed two banks in Williamsburg in an hour, cops said.
The most recent stick-up occurred Monday, when the note-passing thief robbed a North Fork Savings branch at 89-01 Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst.
The suspect is 25 and 35 years old, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-10 and about 170 pounds. He was wearing a long black North Face coat, a black baseball cap and blue jeans.
BROOKLYN
* A year-old boy died suddenly yesterday after lapsing into unconsciousness in a Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment while in the care of the mother’s boyfriend, sources said.
Detectives were conferring with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine whether foul play was involved in the sudden death of the Josiah Bunch.
Sources said that cops were summoned by a 911 call to 1430 Bergen St. at 11:55 a.m. after the mother’s 22-year-old boyfriend, baby-sitting the child, discovered the infant unconscious.
The child was rushed to Interfaith Hospital, where he was declared dead at 12:47 p.m., police said.
MANHATTAN
* An Upper West Side school-crossing guard was busted for racking up $20,000 in credit-card debt in her ex-husband’s name, authorities said yesterday.
NYPD crossing guard Narcisa Castillo allegedly used her former flame’s personal information and forged his name on credit-card applications, cops said.
She was arrested by the NYPD Identity Theft Squad at her home on Frederick Douglass Blvd. near West 115th Street at 8:50 p.m. on Tuesday.
Castillo, assigned to the 24th Precinct, was suspended from her duties, police said.
* Police are looking for the impatient thug who held up an Upper West Side fast-food restaurant, authorities said.
The suspect walked into a KFC at 2755 Broadway at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and ordered a beverage, police sources said.
When the store employee opened the register to make change, the thief tried to stick his hand in the cash drawer but the worker closed it before he could get anything, sources said.
That led the enraged robber to jump over the counter, grab the register and slam it on the floor, police sources said.
The suspect fled after snatching an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.
* Two gun-toting thugs robbed a Chelsea video store early yesterday, police sources said.
The thieving duo strolled into Passion Video at 242 W. 14th St. at 3 a.m., sources said.
One of the suspects, clad in a hooded sweatshirt, ran behind the counter and stole two CD players an undisclosed amount of cash while his accomplice stood watch, authorities said. The thieves fled. The 52-year-old store worker was unharmed.
THE BRONX
* A Pelham Parkway teen was arrested after he shot himself in the foot and lied to cops about how he sustained the injury, police sources said yesterday.
Fabian Myles, 18, originally told cops he was shot in the foot during a botched robbery in front of 2110 Wallace Ave. at 5:55 a.m. on Tuesday, sources said.
Myles took himself to Montefiore Hospital, where he was interviewed by cops and admitted he fabricated the story and had accidentally shot himself in the foot, authorities said.
STATEN ISLAND
* A 25-year-old man was busted for having stolen license plates on his car during a police stop in Arlington, authorities said yesterday.
Construction worker Jason Hunte was stopped in front of 278 Andros Ave. for talking on a cellphone while driving at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, law-enforcement sources said.
Cops discovered the plates on the 1994 Dodge he was driving were not registered to that vehicle, authorities said. He is charged with possession of stolen property.
* A Westerleigh woman was nabbed on prostitution charges in Livingston early yesterday, authorities said.
Maria Ortiz, 40, was spotted flagging down cars at the corner of Alaska Street and Richmond Terrace at 12:30 a.m., law-enforcement sources said.
According to authorities, the officer who arrested Ortiz said she is a known prostitute.
* A 30-year-old man was arrested after he got into a boozed-up fender-bender crash in Graniteville, authorities said yesterday.
Edward Gomez was collared at the scene of the car crash where the Staten Island Expressway meets Richmond Avenue at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, law-enforcement sources said.
Cops who responded to the collision immediately noticed Gomez had watery, bloodshot eyes, boozy breath and an unsteady gait, authorities said. His blood alcohol content was – .210 – more than double the legal limit, law-enforcement sources said.