Results tagged “mistakenidentity”

48-year-old Calixta Guerrero was in her underwear in her Washington Heights apartment around 6 a.m. yesterday when police started pounding on the door. She told them she needed a moment to cover up, but cops shouted, "Open the f-----g door, right now!" So Guerrero complied, and was promptly forced to the floor and handcuffed. Good morning!

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.

Yikes: A Massachusetts man whose identity was stolen two years ago was held in custody because a Bronx cab driver with the name, birthday and Social Security number jumped bail on a weapons possession charge. A judge finally decided to free him yesterday, saying, "The photo I have somewhat resembles you, but I'm satisfied it's not you"--the Post reports the suspect is "described as 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds" while the Holyoke, MA resident is "5-foot-8 and weighed less than 200.." Plus, his fingerprints didn't match the suspect's--and he had written proof his identity was stolen.