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Police Arrest Suspect In Deadly Bed-Stuy Home Invasion, As Family Mourns
By
Clifford Michel
Published Oct 21, 2017
Modified Oct 21, 2017
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By
Clifford Michel
Published Oct 21, 2017
Modified Oct 21, 2017
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The NYPD announced a suspect has been arrested in a Bed-Stuy home invasion that left a 91-year-old man dead earlier this month.
Investigators arrested Dwayne Blackwood Friday and charged him with murder, assault and burglary for allegedly pushing his way into the home of Waldiman and Ethlin Thompson on October 11th and tying them up, an act that led to Waldiman dying of cardiac arrest.
Shortly after 8 p.m., officers led Blackwood outside of the 81st precinct where a small crowd had gathered, DNAinfo reported. Blackwood, dressed in red Arsenal soccer jersey, kept his head down as a man repearedly shouted, "You're a punk!' and "We know what you did!"
The 27-year-old suspect confessed to the crime and gave up his partner too, police sources told the Daily News. At his arraignment, Blackwood pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail, the paper reported.
Blackwood was seen on surveillance footage in dark clothes and carrying a locked box, according to DNAinfo.
The same day, family and friends held a funeral service for Waldiman Thompson, the victim, at Hanson Place Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fort Greene. "You can hide from the police for a little while, but you can’t hide from God," Pastor Bernard Penn told the congregation during the service when bringing up the search for Thompson's killers according to the Post.
Friends and family, including his widow, Ethlin Thompson, laughed at times as speakers at the funeral reminisced about Waldiman's quirks, like his habit of writing his name on all his personal belongings.
"He really had love, and concern, and compassion for people," his son said at the service, according to DNAinfo.
Delroy also relayed his relief that the police now have a suspect in custody.
"I am happy at this stage that they have arrested someone," said Thompson, according to the News. "I hope this effort continues and the question of who did it will be known."
Ethlin, 100, only said "God bless" as she was asked to comment on the interrogation of one of the suspects on her way to a van waiting to take her to Cypress Hills Cemetery.
Thompson was born in Jamaica in 1926, where he was a machinist and raised four kids with Carmen Thompson, his first wife. Waldiman built all the equipment for Carmen's hair salon, his son, Delroy Thompson, said during the service according to the Post.
A few years after his first wife died of an illness in 1988, Waldiman met Ethlin Pringle and they soon married. He is survived by many children, grandchildren, and extended family.
Blackwood's lawyer, Christopher Booth, told the Daily News the police's charges were "vague" and noted that Blackwood wasn't identified by name in the complaint and has no prior warrants.
Tagged
bed stuy
crime
home invasion
Clifford Michel
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