ChrisCairns
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- May 24, 2001
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Even for the once-notorious Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, it may have been a
first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man's Social Security check, the police said.
When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street
recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355
check, the police said.
They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that
resembled the plot of "Weekend at Bernie's," a film about two young men who
prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive.
"Hell's Kitchen has a rich history," said Paul J. Browne, a police
spokesman, "but this is one for the books."
There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron's death, he added.
The roommate, James P. O'Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and
unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron's body in the chair and wheeled it around the
corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The
men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth
Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized.
They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would
have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said.
"He is outside," Mr. O'Hare said, indicating the body in the chair,
according to Mr. Browne.
The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late.
Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who
were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two
men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed
in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled
up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police
said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd
had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch
at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North
station house.
Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to
maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.
The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they
were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud.
Mr. Cintron's body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner's
office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural
causes within the past 24 hours
first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man's Social Security check, the police said.
When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street
recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355
check, the police said.
They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that
resembled the plot of "Weekend at Bernie's," a film about two young men who
prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive.
"Hell's Kitchen has a rich history," said Paul J. Browne, a police
spokesman, "but this is one for the books."
There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron's death, he added.
The roommate, James P. O'Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and
unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron's body in the chair and wheeled it around the
corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The
men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth
Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized.
They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would
have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said.
"He is outside," Mr. O'Hare said, indicating the body in the chair,
according to Mr. Browne.
The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late.
Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who
were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two
men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed
in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled
up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police
said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd
had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch
at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North
station house.
Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to
maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.
The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they
were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud.
Mr. Cintron's body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner's
office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural
causes within the past 24 hours
