Police say that a Bronx man stabbed his roommate in the head with a machete, then set himself and his apartment on fire. The 36-year-old man, whose named hasn't been released yet, didn't die in the fire however—a passerby saw him and saved his life before he burned to death. "I got scorched. He was still in flames. His clothes were burnt completely off of him," said good Samaritan Ken Banks. more ›

If you're going to carry an 18-inch machete, obviously you want to hid it in your pants! But police officers in NJ weren't amused by it, and arrested a 27-year-old North Bergen man after a pat-down search on Saturday. more ›

WABC 7 reports that cops fired at an 18-year-old allegedly wielding a machete in front of 492 Gates Avenue in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. "The 18-year-old reportedly ignored their orders to drop the weapon."—they reportedly identified themselves—"The officers say they opened fire when he started moving toward them, shooting the man in the leg." The suspect is in stable condition at Kings County Hospital. Recently, a bill proposing that cops shoot to wound, instead of shooting to kill, was proposed, prompting Police Commissioner Kelly to invite City Council members to fire weapons at the police shooting range to show how difficult that would be. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but this MySpace photo of the man suspected of fatally stabbing two men on a No. 2 subway train Sunday morning doesn't look good. Police have arrested three men in connection with the incident, which the victims' friends claim started after the assailant got hit in the head with a plastic bag containing empty beer bottles. Last night police charged all three suspects with second-degree murder; CBS2 reports that 19-year-old Brenddy Garcia of Brownsville, Brooklyn was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon. more ›

According to a tenant arrested alongside a gun-hoarding Brooklyn couple and their adult son, the arsenal in their attic was nothing more than a collection of old family heirlooms. Michael Poole, 29, was released after being charged with criminal weapons possession, and went to court Sunday to defend his friends, Thomas and Kathleen Siano, reports the News. Of the 30 unregistered guns, seven knives (including an umbrella knife and a machete) and two crossbows found in the Gravesend dwelling, Poole explained, "These weapons were left to him by [Thomas Siano's] grandfather and uncle, who he used to go hunting with...He put them up in the attic because he didn't know what else to do with them. He never brought them out. He didn't want anyone to get hurt." According to a longtime neighbor, the Sianos also had a coin collection. more ›

Police shot an East Flatbush man four times in the legs after he lunged at them with a machete last night. Three officers encountered the 49-year-old after responding to a call from the man's daughter alerting them of an emotionally disturbed person in their East 94th Street residence, according to the Times. When the cops arrived at the door, the man approached them with the blade. After "pepper spray failed to subdue the man," an NYPD sergeant fired 13 shots, hitting him in both legs. The man, whose name has not yet been released, had no previous arrest record. In past years, machetes have been used in multiple stabbings, including several gang-related incidents in Williamsburg. more ›

Why breaking and entering isn't a great idea—from the Post: "A heroic Brooklyn dad whacked a home invader with a machete after hearing his daughter's screams for help, sources said. Dwayne Johnson, 28, allegedly slipped into the house on Amersfort Place in Flatbush Monday. When the homeowner's daughter saw him and screamed, her father grabbed a machete and hit Johnson, who ran off but was caught later. Johnson was hospitalized in stable condition." more ›

A Brooklyn thug convicted of a violent crime spree last year almost caught a lucky break at Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday. Victor Hernandez, 17, was sitting in court (wearing his best Spider Man T-shirt) when a lawyer he'd never met, Joseph Santo, called him forward. Santo had mistaken Hernandez, a stocky Latino with curly hair, for his client Antoine Dick, a "clean-cut" black man who was due to get five years probation for purse-snatching. Instead, Hernandez was sentenced as Dick. He tells the Post, "I thought it was strange when I was given five years probation, but I didn't understand. All I knew was that I was happy." Santo—using the best 'that's what she said' defense ever—explains, "I've only met Mr. Dick half a dozen times. I thought he'd grown his hair out. I see as many as 40 clients in a week. I don't remember their faces all the time." Hernadez was ultimately apprehended in the probation office waiting room after his real lawyer arrived to clear up the mistake, helpfully sending his client to jail. He's expected to get at least seven years in prison for slashing two brothers with a machete in a Williamsburg restaurant, among other crimes. more ›

If only the Williamsburg area had the occasional hipster grifter to worry about, and not the much uglier problem of machete attacks. For about a year now we've been reporting on the machete and alleged gang attacks in the South Williamsburg neighborhood, and now the Village Voice takes a closer look at the weapon of choice there. more ›

This morning we received an email regarding another machete incident in South Williamsburg. The tipster wrote: "I witnessed a young man in handcuffs being pulled out the bodega near the corner of South 4th and Bedford at about 9:45 last night, the bodega next to Papa Lima sandwich shop. After he was placed into a police van, a police officer walked out of the bodega holding a machete. more ›

Councilwoman Diana Reyna of Brooklyn is considering a bill to ban the sale of machetes, The NY Times reports. For those familiar with the recent gang activity in Brooklyn, the Williamsburg area especially, Reyna's desire to ban the weapon should come as no surprise. This year there have been a number of machete attacks, allegedly all gang-related. more ›

The NYPD announced a 19-year-old and two 16-year-olds were arrested in the shooting of two people, including a 5-year-old girl who had been walking with her parents, on Monday night. The incident took place on a residential street in the Ridgewood section of Queens. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "The so-called Blood members were coming down the street and the Trinitario group was sitting on the stoop. And this was some sort of gang encounter. Shots were fired. And, as I say, we hope to make more arrests on this matter." Newsday reports when the girl's father saw one man draw a machete, the family tried to run for cover, and the little girl was hit in the back. A 28-year-old man, believed to be involved in the dispute, was shot in the leg. Neighbors tell NY1 there's been a lot of gang violence in the neighborhood. more ›

Two bodega owners in Bay Ridge fought off a robbery earlier this week by taking justice into their own hands...with machetes. The Post reports that when three thieves tried to rob the S & J Meat Market Monday of $2,000 in cigarettes, brothers and co-owners Mohammed and Sammy Othman confronted them with foot-and-a-half-long machetes. "My knife's bigger than yours!" Sammy yelled at one of the robbers who had pulled a four-inch blade. After containing two of the thieves with the machete, Mohammed was able to lead police to the third by answering the suspect's cell phone, which was left behind at the bodega. He answered pretending to be one of the perp's cohorts and asked where he was. The suspect told him and was quickly apprehended by police. more ›

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Earlier in the week, unconfirmed reports of a knife-wielding assailant had Williamsburg residents on edge; South Williamsburg in particular has been flooded with patrolmen all week, and we’ve heard from readers who say they’ve been written summons for minor offenses like jaywalking. more ›

The man who was taken into custody Tuesday after attacking a man with a machete and then throwing Molotov cocktails at the authorities from a Queens rooftop told police he was "having a bad day." Detective Robert Zajac explained that in trying to coax Felipe Velasquez down, "We were trying to tell him today is a different day, and we'll work it out with you.'' more ›

A man who slashed a person with a machete and then retreated to a Queens rooftop to throw firebombs at police is, thankfully, now in custody. The NYPD and FDNY had surrounded the Richmond Hill house on Hillside Avenue between 125th and 126th Streets; one of the police cars caught fire, but no one was injured. more ›

A Queens bodega owner defended his store against a gun-wielding robber by way of a machete. Johan Marte, who owns the Erick Deli Grocery in Woodhaven, explained to the Post, "He had a gun and I took him out." The would-be robber, 28-year-old Omar Rodriguez, had fired twice before asking for money, but Marte managed to chop off the gunman's ear and finger. The Daily News has a photo of the robber that shows crime... more ›