Results tagged “domesticviolence”

In an apparent first, six women posed as victims of domestic violence in order to jump to the top of the wait-list for government subsidized apartments, officials say. Over 127,000 families are on the New York City Housing Authority’s waiting list for Section 8 vouchers, which can be worth thousands of dollars a year. Qualifying tenants who get the vouchers pay 30 percent of their adjusted gross income toward the rent, and the government picks up the rest. And these women, who were all arrested over a period of four months, almost got away with it!

There's a growing chorus of lawmakers saying that State Senator Hiram Monserrate should step down, now that he's been convicted of a misdemeanor for slashing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass, but one of Monserrate's Senate colleagues is standing by him. In fact, State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. said that these demands are "racist."

The assault trial of State Senator Hiram Monserrate has adjourned for the weekend after yesterday's dramatic testimony from his girlfriend Karla Giraldo. The victim explained inconsistencies with her initial accusations that she was attacked by Monserrate to her current version that a glass broke on her face by saying that she was so drunk that night that "my mind was in another planet." Despite her previous grand jury testimony saying she only had a couple glasses of wine, Giraldo said that she was so drunk that she could not remember banging on a neighbor's door looking for help or telling a doctor that Monserrate attacked her while being treated for the cuts that would leave her with 40 stitches.

Former Yankee Jim Leyritz was arrested once again at his South Florida home, this time charged with domestic battery against his ex-wife. He's accused of dragging Karrie Leyritz out of bed and pushing her to the floor because she wrote a check without his permission. However, like Leyritz's faulty Breathalyzer test in May, the details around the incident sound complicated. Police say Leyritz's ex-wife gave two conflicting reports, the other story being that the slugger punched her in the face twice because they were arguing over child support. Leyritz, awaiting trial for DUI manslaughter, told police that she was drunk (which she admits) and most likely hit herself to set him up because she was angry over being evicted from their house. One of their three children told cops he believed that this probably was the case. But Karrie Leyritz said of her son, "He's constantly hearing his father bad-mouth me. I can't control what my ex-husband says."

State Senator Hiram Monserrate's claim that one of the grand jurors who voted to indict him for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend is a police officer who works at the very precinct that investigated the Queens Democrat. According to the Daily News, a 105th Precinct cop "recognized one of his colleagues sitting in the jury box" while testifying in front of the grand jury. The cop allegedly told prosecutors, who then told him "not to worry about it"; the cop also told a private investigator working for Monserrate. The state senator's lawyer Joseph Tacopina said, "It was incumbent upon the [prosecutors,] who were aware of the relationship ... to ensure that the grand juror not hear testimony from his fellow officer or participate in the proceedings." Tacopina also says the prosecution's case is flawed beyond this grand juror, suggesting the surveillance video that shows Monserrate "violently" jerking around his girlfriend after the alleged assault was edited together to look damning. Monserrate, in the meantime, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains his innocence.

Former NYPD Sergeant John Galtieri may spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced today in Staten Island for the 2007 murder of his ex-wife. Galtieri was convicted of shooting Jeanne Kane in a Staten Island park-and-ride after becoming enraged over the divorce settlement handed out to his once-battered ex-wife. Justice Stephen Rooney said, "What's particularly chilling here is the calculated and premeditated nature of this murder...A truly cold-blooded murder such as this requires severe sentencing." Kane had once appeared on as a member of the '60s trio, The Kane Triplets. Her two sisters were in court at the sentencing along with Kane and Galtieri's daughter, Patricia. She said to her father, "John Galtieri, I should have said this a long time ago: You are a coward ... Only a coward hides behind a gun ... As he sits in his cold, lonely cell for the remainder of his days, he will be tortured by this for eternity: 'Jeanne beat me.'" (Her full remarks are here.) Galtieri's lawyer called the outcome of the trial "a conviction by character assassination."

A judge has refused to release the video that allegedly shows State Senator Hiram Monserrate yanking girlfriend Karla Giraldo "viciously and violently" around his Queens home. Monserrate will stand trial for assaulting Giraldo with a broken glass, an incident that required her to get twenty stitches on her face. His lawyer said of the video, "We won't even get a chance. It's adding fuel to the fire. It's totally inflammatory." The request to release the video was made by the Daily News, but the judge thinks that the powerful images would taint potential jurors. He said, "The defendant will not get a fair trial. It has the great potential for prejudice. A picture is indeed worth a thousand words...it causes the blood to boil." He also told Moserrate's lawyer, "You and your client have to make your peace with this exhibit. You'll have to cope with it...It's inevitable that it's going to come out."

Yesterday in court, the lawyer for State Senator Hiram Monserrate, the man accused of smashing a glass on his girlfriend's face, claimed that prosecutor Scott Kessler was distorting the facts over what was merely an accident in order to "incite the court" and as a result should be taken off the case. The judge denied the request and renewed the order of protection barring Monserrate from having any contact from Karla Giraldo, who has maintained that it was just an accident (law enforcement implies she's not cooperating with them). Giraldo tried to speak in court yesterday, but was denied since it was merely a procedural occasion for the order of protection. The judge said, “In essence, what you want me to do is conduct a minitrial here. She can tell the grand jury her side of the story." Queens DA Richard Brown defended Kessler as "a nationally recognized expert in domestic violence prosecutions.” The Times reports that Monserrate, who thinks he is being smeared from many angles, had several dozen supporters in the courtroom yesterday, all wearing purple ribbons.

Embattled State Senator Hiram Monserrate thinks that the wave of negative attention that has come his way goes beyond the December incident where his girlfriend called police after he allegedly smashed a glass in her face (which both now claim was actually an accident on her part). In his first interview since being arrested, he chalks it up to the “corporate media” editorial boards, the police department and some of his GOP colleagues of trying to prevent him from delivering on the kind of broad-based reforms that he has promised. Monserrate told The Capitol, “Listen up, I’ve been beat up, tarred, feathered, you name it, right?...I understand if you slip on a banana peel, you’ll be on page one—even though it was an accident." Monserrate has previously accused the DA's office involved with the case of seeking retribution for a previous political skirmish. Monserrate said, “Throughout our history we’ve had political leaders who’ve taken on the populist or the progressive stance, and they’ve all got shots taken at them for different reasons."

Two young boys were found dead in the Bronx yesterday in separate incidents. 4-year-old Kevion Shand was found unconscious and unresponsive with signs of physical injury to his head, face and jaw. Police arrested his 45-year-old grandmother, Angela Baksdale, on charges of assault. Shand lived with Barksdale and her live-in boyfriend. 9-year-old Derrick Peralta (pictured) was also found unresponsive in his bed on Morrison Avenue in the Bronx. Perralta was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital and pronounced dead after his father discovered him unconscious. There is no word yet on the cause of death, but foul play is not suspected in Perralta's case.

A Staten Island woman has been arrested in connection with the death of her 10-year-old son in Mariners Harbor. 30 year-old Melissa Sekulski was charged yesterday and is expected to be arraigned today on manslaughter charges in the death of her son, Jaquan Porter. Following a 911 call from someone inside the apartment Friday evening, the boy was found to be not breathing and later pronounced dead at Richmond University Medical Center. The Medical Examiner's office later determined that Porter died due to blunt trauma to the head.

A little scoop from the Post about the business card that State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate and girlfriend Karla Giraldo allegedly fought about, culminating in her getting a black eye and a gash on her face and him being arrested. Monserrate "believed the business card he spotted in her bag belonged to an ex-boyfriend," sources tell the Post. Investigators not only "found the card at the bottom of the garbage chute in Monserrate's...apartment building after he was caught on surveillance video trying to toss her bag in the trash," but the video also allegedly shows Giraldo "running screaming down the hallway holding a towel to her bleeding face and pounding on neighbors' doors for help." While the Queens DA's office has charged Monserrate with assault, Giraldo is not cooperating with them or the NYPD and her relatives have reiterated Monserrate's claim that it was just an accident that he tripped and fell into Giraldo while holding a broken glass.

The drama over whether State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate assaulted his girlfriend continues! Monserrate, arrested after allegedly hitting Karla Giraldo with a broken glass (she had a black eye and a gash requiring 20 stitches), said the incident was a terrible accident; his supporters have reportedly said he was upset about drugs found in Giraldo's purse, hence their fight.

Supporters are trying to spin an explanation for State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate's alleged assault of his girlfriend. The Daily News reports, "Sources say Monserrate backers have told people the outgoing city councilman was upset to discover drugs in girlfriend Karla Giraldo's purse after they attended the Queens Democratic Party's holiday dinner on Thursday."

State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate issued a statement after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend with a broken glass—requiring her to get 20 stitches for a gash above her left eye (she also had a black eye). Monserrate, who is a former police officer and an outgoing City Councilman, said the whole thing was a "terribly unfortunate accident" with girlfriend Karla Giraldo.

State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate is facing charges of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a domestic violence incident after being arrested early yesterday morning for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo. Here's some of the Queens DA's office statement:

According to the criminal complaint, during a verbal dispute at Mr. Monserrate’s residence at approximately 1:00 a.m. this morning, the defendant picked up a glass and broke it in his hand.

Continue reading "Queens Pol Arrested in Domestic Violence Shocker"

The police say 27-year-old Joseph Pallipurath fatally shot his estranged wife and another person and injured a third inside a church in Clifton, NJ. The Star-Ledger reports that Pallipurath's wife Reshma James had fled her husband and their California home "to live with a relative in New Jersey... and even took out a restraining order against" him. But he tracked her down at the Thomas Syrian Orthodox Church; witnesses say Pallipurath said, "You are my wife, I'm taking you, you have to come with me." James refused and Pallipurath shot her in the head as well as Dennis John, who tried to intervene. James's cousin Silvy Perincheril was also critically wounded. Pallipurath fled the scene in a 1994 green Jeep with California plates; he is considered armed and dangerous.

A Long Island woman was arraigned yesterday on manslaughter charges after beating up her 75-year-old mother and leaving her to die, incapacitated and unable to get help in her Islip home. The altercation took place after the victim, Marlene Young, chastised her daughter for purchasing too many groceries. After turning around, Young was kicked from behind by her daughter Laurie and then dragged across the floor and onto the bed. Laurie Young first told police the next day that she had discovered her mother dead in bed, only to later expound upon the incident that took place. An officer involved with the case informed Newsday, "One of the things Laurie Young told us was that she put her mother back into her bed and would not call the police because she was afraid of being arrested for her actions."

This morning in Rockville Center, the funeral was held for Leah Walsh, the Long Island teacher murdered by her husband earlier this week. A neighbor told Newsday that every seat was filled in the ceremony that was followed by her burial in Pinelawn. Those in attendance did not include the family of William Walsh, the man being kept in solitary after being arrested for the murder of his wife. Today's Post explores the history of the couple, painting an ugly picture of Leah living in fear of her hard drinking and sometimes violent husband who cops say "slapped around and publicly humiliated (her) as he bedded other women." Neighbors say that police had to visit the Walshes' home more than once, but that Leah never pressed charges against her husband.

A Harlem woman was arrested yesterday after fatally stabbing the father of her 2-year-old son on Halloween. Adele Louis stabbed Darryl Taylor inside her apartment Friday afternoon. Taylor had come over to pick up his son, dressed as Batman, and take him trick-or-treating when the altercation broke out. Apparently Louis was set off by Taylor not purchasing a winter coat for their son, Daryl Jr. Earlier in the day, Taylor's mother says that Louis had thrown bleach in Taylor's face over his not buying the coat, which prompted him to call the police. But Taylor's mother says that he did not press charges over the incident because he "did not want to see her locked up."

The Health Department issued a report about "Intimate Partner Violence" in NYC, and, between 2003 and 2005, 44% of all women murdered were killed by intimate partners. The Health Department also noted that domestic violence also accounted for nearly 4,000 visits to the ER.

A Red Hook man is hospitalized with serious stab wounds after his wife was found strangled to death in their Brooklyn home. It's a domestic abuse case that reportedly tilts in the opposite direction of most. Patrick Sculley (aged 60) and his wife (aged 50) had what neighbors described as a combative marriage, with frequent public fights. Neighbors told WNBC News that they saw Pamela hit her husband repeatedly with a baseball bat and kick him recently.

A UPS delivery man saw the body of a retired police sergeant, shot in the torso, on the floor of a Howard Beach home and called 911. The police arrested the sergeant's wife and charged her with murder.

An assistant principal at P.S. 196 in East Williamsburg was arrested yesterday for slashing her live-in boyfriend with a pair of scissors. Danielle Capuano's boyfriend Alejandro Ruiz was also arrested in the domestic violence incident in East Elmhurst, Queens. Capuano was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Ruiz was charged with assault for hitting Capuano in the head.