Another day, another person who is outraged and offended that former police officer Michael Pena, who had been accused of raping a 25-year-old school teacher at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan last August—was not convicted of rape charges. Key witness Ann Bishop, a special education teacher who testified that she witnessed Pena having sex with the victim from her bedroom window, said she couldn't believe jurors dismiss the victims own testimony as well as hers: “I know what I saw,” she told the Daily News. “I am disturbed by the fact that they didn’t come back with a guilty verdict.” more ›

An off-duty cop was charged with drunk driving after getting into an accident on the Upper East Side last night. Police say that Officer Raymond Dimaria, 35, drove the wrong way down Second Avenue and smashed into a Nissan Maxima on East 63rd Street around 1:20 a.m. more ›

The fiancée of Michael Pena—the 28-year-old police officer who is accused of raping a schoolteacher at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan last August—told a jury that she still loved him, and planned to marry him, during her testimony yesterday. Alma Rodriguez, 24, answered defense attorney Ephraim Savitt's questions through a translator—the Dominican Republic citizen said she understood the charges against Pena, and still loved him. She also claimed that she and Pena had sex hours before the alleged rape took place. more ›

The prosecution rested their case this week against Michael Pena, a 27-year-old police officer who is accused of raping a schoolteacher at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan last August. This came after testimony from the victim, a bartender who confirmed Pena was drinking heavily that evening, and a witness who saw Pena attacking the 25-year-old teacher. The witness described what she saw as "joyless" sex, and added, "It wasn't like 'let's sneak a quickie.'" Defense attorney Ephraim Savitt responded: "I'm sure it wasn't a quickie. I'm sure it was joyless, but she also didn't see exactly what happened." more ›

The trial for Michael Pena, a 27-year-old police officer who is accused of raping a schoolteacher at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan last August, began yesterday. While Pena had previously implied that it was a consensual encounter—and that he was just "cheating" on his girlfriend—his lawyer took a different strategy in his opening statements: he admitted his client deserved to go to jail. “He did in fact assault her,” defense attorney Ephraim Savitt told jurors. “All those things the People will be able to prove, because they happened...This was a terrible crime, an unforgivable crime, but it does not rise to the level of the [rape] charges." more ›

Police say that a visibly intoxicated homeless man pushed a straphanger onto the subway tracks early this morning. The 62-year-old Manhattan resident was waiting for a Brooklyn-bound 3 train at Times Square just before 5 a.m. when 29-year-old homeless man Andrew Lessey allegedly struck him, sending him tumbling into the train tracks. He was able to avoid touching the third rail, and was able to climb out of the tracks before the next train came. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] This YouTube video has it all: a highly intoxicated person, an unsteady documenter, very little information, no closure, and an MGMT soundtrack. The footage was uploaded last night, and we've contacted the uploader to get more details about the scenario. But until we hear back, let's discuss: should the fellow straphangers have made more of a hands-on effort to help this guy out? Or were they all (except for the MTA worker who has a brief interaction with him) too drunk from the big game, too? more ›

Rafael Casiano, the off-duty housing officer who crashed his car last week, seriously injuring his partner, and then blew a (legal) .032 on a breathalyzer test nine hours later, has been forced by a judge to hand over his driver's license. more ›

For years, many New Yorkers have enjoyed the pleasures of drunk shopping—whether it's for a snazzy suit or a puppy, the phenomenon is nothing new—the fashion blog Racked even has a regular column called "Drunk Shopping." Today, the Times looks at the people who prefer to drunk shop on the internet, where no one can peer pressure them into buying anything but themselves, and oh, it is magical: more ›

Yesterday, it was reported that an off-duty police officer hit a divider on the Bronx River Parkway, overturning the vehicle that held him and his partner. Though police officers at the scene determined that Office Rafael Casiano had been drinking—he admitted he "had a few drinks"—he was not given a Breathalyzer until nine hours later. Now the NYPD says Internal Affairs is investigating that delay. more ›

An off duty Bronx cop was arrested and charged with a DWI after a car crash yesterday that left his partner in a medically-induced coma. Officer Rafael Casiano was driving his personal vehicle on the Bronx River Parkway near the Cross Bronx Expressway around 4:30 p.m when his car skidded, hit a divider, and flipped. more ›

In late August, a 27-year-old police officer was accused of raping a woman at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan. Officer Michael Pena pleaded not guilty to charges that he forced the 25-year-old schoolteacher into a courtyard behind an Inwood building at gunpoint early that morning and raped her—he even implied it was consensual, and that he was just "cheating" on his girlfriend. Today, the arresting officer testified about Pena's state that morning: "I looked at his shield and I threw it to the ground in disgust," said Officer Timothy Kraft, according to DNAInfo. more ›

The holidays are coming up, and with them come holiday parties, and with holiday parties comes booze, and with booze comes all sorts of studies about how booze is scary. Just last week, we learned that drunk people like to hook up at the aforementioned holiday parties, and today, we are told that drunk people, when hooking up, might have unsafe sex due to being drunk. Thanks, science! more ›

A Long Island man was arrested by police yesterday and charged with drunk driving with his two-year-old son in the car. Christopher Weiss, 29, was driving his Ford Focus westbound along route 25 in Suffolk County when another driver called 911 to complain he was driving erratically. Certainly the fact that he was driving a car with only three working tires wasn't helping the situation. more ›

In late August, a 27-year-old police officer was accused of raping a woman at gunpoint while off-duty in Manhattan. Today, officer Michael Pena pleaded not guilty to charges that he forced the 25-year-old teacher into a courtyard behind an Inwood building at gunpoint early that morning and raped her. It was also revealed today that Pena, who admitted he had been drinking that morning, implied after his arrest that the encounter was consensual. more ›

An off-duty cop has been charged with killing a man while allegedly driving drunk early Wednesday morning in the Bronx. According to police, rookie officer Luis Arnao, 25, struck Tyre Chisholm, 22, with his 2011 Honda Accord as Chisholm was crossing the street on White Plains Road near 241st Street just before 4 a.m. "He got hit hard. He flew up in the air. His shoes flew off with his socks still in them," said witness Devine Douglas. more ›

The 27-year-old police officer accused of raping a woman at gunpoint in Inwood early last Friday is worried that the Manhattan DA is going to try and "make an example" out of him over a misunderstanding. Three-year-veteran Michael Pena, currently at Rikers, told the Daily News in his first jailhouse interview that "The DA is arresting cops, indicting cops. They're trying to make an example out of me." more ›

Sacre bleu! Is this the start of an unseemly new trend? French actor Gerard Depardieu hopped on the "drunkenly peeing on a plane in public" bandwagon last night, allegedly relieving himself on the carpet of a City Jet flight from Paris to Dublin. more ›

Turns out that Robert Vietze, the 18-year-old who allegedly got drunk and peed all over a sleeping 11-year-old girl on a JetBlue redeye to New York earlier this week, is a member of the US Ski Team who probably just pissed away his chance at Olympic glory. more ›

The JetBlue redeye from Portland to JFK made a strong bid for Worst Flight Ever yesterday, when a drunk 18-year-old boy allegedly peed all over a 11 year-old girl in her seat, which did not go over well with her father. Oh, and then someone puked. more ›

Singer Gavin DeGraw is having his drunken blackout pieced together by the press! Earlier this morning we heard that DeGraw was beaten up in the East Village by some men at 4 a.m. Monday, before being hit by a cab about 13 blocks away. DeGraw has been recuperating at Bellevue Hospital, and just Tweeted, "Honestly, I don't remember much." more ›

You know what's extra cute when you are totally wasted: PUPPIES & KITTENS!!!!!! And here in New York City, you can extend happy hour into a lifetime of happiness with a new furry friend... or at least, you used to be able to until pet stores started cracking down on adopting while intoxicated. more ›

A toxicologist in the NYC Medical Examiner's office testified that the woman who claims a NYPD cop raped her (and another stood watch) could have had a blood alcohol level as high as four times the legal limit. When asked if the accuser could have been unable to move while being raped, Michael McGee said, "The effects you're describing are certainly effects that have been observed." more ›

The police in Middletown, NJ received a call just before 6 a.m. on Monday from residents who found a man sleeping in their basement. And when cops arrived, they determined the man "was extremely intoxicated and had entered the basement through a window and went to sleep on a mattress." Well, that's why you have mattresses in basements, right—for those unexpected guests? more ›