After the disturbing footage showing an 85-year-old woman who was followed into an apartment building, choked to unconsciousness in the elevator, and then robbed of her money AND cane, the NYPD is now, per Newsday, "focusing in large part on the area around Flatbush, near Prospect Park." Police suspect the same person is behind that attack as well as 11 others (the other victims are 11 women and one man); they were robbed of money......

The Queens DA's press release gives some more details about the 18-year-old who fatally shot his cousin. Felix Cruz allegedly "pointed the firearm at her and pulled the trigger. The gun made a clicking noise and nothing happened. The defendant allegedly then pulled the trigger again, this time discharging a bullet that struck [Veronica] Cruz in the face, killing her." The Queens DA's office adds that Cruz tried to get rid of the gun by......

Following yesterday's news of Mark David Chapman's latest chance for parole coming up this week, The Daily News chimes in with some more from Yoko Ono. She has, naturally, long been against her husband's killer being released, for her family's safety, but has also stated that: "It's dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself. There are so many people out there who dislike him. It's safer for him to......

Yesterday morning, a man was discovered beaten to death, near a Sikh temple in South Richmond Hill on 118th Street. WABC 7 reports his body was "found in a pool of blood, his facial features barely recognizable." It's believed the weapon was a broomstick, as splintered pieces of one were found near the scene. Shocked neighbors described him as a homeless, non-practicing Sikh; one said he was often drunk and sometimes fought with other homeless......

Last year 43% of readers voted that that NYPD's Sky Watch was useless. Now Animal New York reports on the retractable 20-foot-tall watchtower and now it's popping up in more and more neighborhoods (they name Crown Heights, Harlem and DUMBO as a few). More recently one of the temporary watchtowers has been erected on Graham Avenue and Moore Street, which they pinpoint as "the Bushwickish section of Williamsburg." Allegedly this one is for some robberies......

The Lower Manhattan Jack Spade store has been burgled multiple times this year, and as they say: three's a trend. In that vein, Men's Vogue reports that the store has now decided to celebrate their thief, who has returned three times to lift the perfect accessories for his crime (a little over $1K in merchandise). "Smitten by this criminal's dedication and affinity for their products they have created a comic book to commemorate his adventures,"......

Wow: When a man tried to rob 86-year-old Elizabeth Maropoulos in Hell's Kitchen on Sunday morning, she told the Post, "Once I realized he was coming after me, I went kick, kick!" Still, she was knocked down and robbed of $100. Luckily the thief, Earl Wearing, was caught--Maropoulos proclaimed him a "bad, bad boy. He's a bastard." And a bartender at the Blarney Stone, where Maropoulos is apparently a regular, said she's a tough lady,......

Yesterday, another woman was attacked in Queens, and it may be linked to a series of five other attacks in the past few months. WABC 7 reports a man with a knife pushed 18-year-old to the ground (she got away but was cut when pushing the knife away) Police believe there are two serial rapists who have attacked at least 12 twelve women in Queens. State Senator Malcom Smith issued an ultimatum for the NYPD,......

Yesterday, a Canadian tourist, staying at a friend's apartment at The Heywood on Ninth Ave. and West 26th, was followed into the building and attacked around 4 a.m. The Post reports the suspect "followed her into the apartment and choked her into unconsciousness," and the victim "awoke minutes later to find her clothes partially removed, a small amount of cash, jewelry and a cellphone missing." But the attacker was gone; police tell the Daily News......

This year Williamsburg has seen its fair share of stabbings and shootings, and in light of that "a number of local politicians and churches are sponsoring a prayer rally and concert to protest the recent spate of violence in the Southside." One of the latest crimes took place over the East River recently at the daylight drenched hour of 4:45 p.m. The Brooklyn Paper reported that "a gun-toting thug tried to mug a 28-year-old man......

The police released a sketch and surveillance video of the man believed to be involved in a series of sexual attacks in Queens, most near bus stops. While the suspect's face is not visible in the surveillance video, police are hoping someone will recognize the man's walk and mannerisms. In two incidents, the man, who has used a knife to threaten his victims, was wearing a hoodie and black Nike Air Force One sneakers. City......

Yesterday morning, at the Rockaway Deli & Grocery in Queens, a customer apparently lost it and stabbed two employees. According to WABC 7, Ortho Arnold is seen on a surveillance tape getting his change and then spitting in the cashier's face: "As other nervous customers start leaving the store, Arnold pulls the knife." The victims, the owner's son and cousin, were able to fight him off with broomsticks. The owner said Arnold is a regular......

This is horrible. A 65-year-old man was arrested for sodomizing a 16-year-old boy yesterday morning on a Bay Ridge Street. Apparently the NYPD narcotics unit was monitoring a surveillance camera when they saw Reham Ali hiding something between two parked cars around Seventh Avenue and 64th Street. The Daily News reports that two officers went to see what was happening and found Ali "holding down and sodomizing" the mentally retarded boy. A police source told......

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly explained why there are more younger muggers these days: It's the iPhone! The News reports, "Juveniles [ages 11-19] accounted for 29% of the 7,340 robbery arrests and 27% of the 4,566 grand larceny busts this year, an 8% jump in each category compared to this time last year." Kelly said, "The explosive popularity of these devices has also made them inviting targets for thefts. Teens are commonly the culprits as well......

Raffaello Follieri, the alleged con man who’s been charged with 11 counts of fraud and money laundering, has been languishing in a 7½-by-8-foot cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center for a month since his arrest. To make matters worse, his ex-girlfriend Anne Hathaway refuses to speak with him, and his longtime adviser and attorney Marty Edelman may testify against him. (Not a war-time consigliere.) A friend of Follieri – he still has one, at least......

A resident of Sunnyside Queens says her neighborhood now “has hoards and I mean hoards of homeless people, derelicts, and the like that have been all and around the neighborhood harassing people.” Today she wrote into local blog Queens Crap to ask if a new half-way house or homeless shelter has opened up nearby, because “the situation has escalated only within the last month and a half!!!!!!! I was walking home one evening, it was......

The Post looks at the NYPD's recent crime data and notes burglaries have risen up to 25% "in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods." While burglaries have dropped citywide by 8.9%, there has been a 26.8% rise on the Upper East Side, 20.2% in Midtown East (including Murray Hill), 24.5% increase on the Upper West Side, 19.2% in Chelsea and 26.2% in Greenwich Village. Community Board 2 (located in the Village) Chairman Brad Hoylman said, "We've......

The lawyer accused of operating a strip club/brothel in Midtown was held on $150,000 bail, as was his wife. And his employees spared no details about Lou Posner while talking with the tabloids. Posner and wife Betty owned the Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street, which featured strippers, sex shows and "private rooms" where police claim customers could buy more intimate time with dancers, not to mention procure drugs from a house dealer.......

At the Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street, police say customers could indulge not just in hot lap dances but some more intimate fun by the hour in cubicles, private bedrooms or even "off-premises." And what's more, the joint was run by a group of people, including one who started a voter reform advocacy group after the 2000 election and a private police force cop. Undercover cops posing as men having a bachelor......

The 22-year-old man who was shot in Brooklyn last weekend, an incident that left a gruesome mess at the bus depot on Broadway and Roebling, has died. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the altercation leading to the shooting began at Williamsburg's Festa del Giglio, and witnesses say the scuffle resulted in Williamsburg resident Richard Duran getting shot in the face. "The gunmen — who onlookers suspect were gang members — sprinted off," however, the shooter......

The Daily News sheds some light on Saturday morning's stabbings in Williamsburg (though the Post's sources seem to tell a slightly different story). They report: "A machete-wielding mob marching down a gritty Brooklyn street stabbed a pair of teenagers Saturday during a bloody night in the city that left two other men dead. About 15 suspected gang members, wearing T-shirts over their faces, stormed down S. Third St. in Williamsburg around 2 a.m. brandishing 18-inch......

An 18-year-old graduate of Far Rockaway High was fatally shot on Beach 16th Street yesterday morning. The Daily News reports Patrick Hernandez, who had played on the high school football team and was headed to SUNY Cortland this fall, "had spent the morning helping clean up a local beach and was walking home with his brother" when a shooter jumped out of a car and fired at him. The police are speaking to a suspect.......

Even though around 200 people attended the Brooklyn barbecue where one person was killed and four people were injured in gun fire, the Post reports there has been little or no cooperation from witnesses. More chillingly, it's suggested that the fatality, 21-year-old college student Zeanie White, may have been used as a "human shield" by another shooting victim who may have been the real target. Police are offering $12,000 for information leading to an arrest......

Police say a woman stole a purse belonging to her son's first grade teacher while at the school for his graduation! The Staten Island Advance reports that 43-year-old Traci Holmes "slipped into her son's empty classroom at PS 52 in Dongan Hills sometime during the May 29 ceremony and swiped his teacher's Louis Vuitton handbag." Holmes allegedly made over $300 in purchases with the teacher's credit card and tried to make more, but the card......

A July 4th weekend barbecue turned tragic when a group reportedly "crashed the party and unleashed a barrage of gunfire." A 21-year-old woman was killed and four others were taken to the hospitals. A party was being held behind 969 Gates Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant--which is just down the street from the 81st Precinct. Around 1 a.m. yesterday, the shooting began. One witness told the Sun, "It was a rapid succession of shots. After that, the......

Photograph from Clinton Hill Blog The NY Times looks at the recent crimes that have rattled the under-transition neighborhood of Clinton Hill:Pratt's director of security (Pratt recently warned students about muggings near but not on campus) said "someone put a garbage can over a woman’s head and then robbed her" in April. A Pratt junior headed to a baby-sitting job was beaten up after she didn't take three girls' request for money seriously: "They......

Police suspect that a strange van filled with mysterious explosives found in Sunset Park may be linked to a landlord with a history of bomb-making activities. On Thursday, a career criminal broke into the van, intending to rob it but decided to tip off the police after moving it to a more desolate location. The NYPD's anti-terror task force responded, as did Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and the FBI, to the scene. WABC 7 reported......

Police believe the same suspect is behind seven muggings that have taken place on the Upper West Side/ Morningside Heights since April. According to the Post, he "first punches his victim in the face, then demands cash and valuables." The attacks have been on six woman and one man, many concentrated around West 92nd Street--at Columbus and West 92nd Street, West End and West 92nd, on West 92nd off West End, West 81st and......

A man breaking into a van called the police when he noticed strange materials inside--the Post reports the van was "filled with gas cans and Styrofoam cups containing a mysterious white substance with protruding wires and switches." The van had been parked on Sunset Park, Brooklyn block for a month, and the would-be robber drove the van to a desolate location and then "called a cop he knows from his run-ins with the law." The......

An 8-year veteran of the Yonkers police department was arrested for allegedly "body-slamming" a woman at a restaurant in 2007. Wayne Simoes was arrested and charged, per the U.S. Attorney's office, "with violation of federal civil rights laws" because it's illegal to for law enforcement to use "excessive force..the course of an arrest, stop, or seizure." In March 2007, Irma Marquez's niece, who was hit with a bottle at La Fonda restaurant, was being treated......