Police are investigating whether 50-year-old Theodore Ellinghaus Jr. intentionally set the large firecracker that killed him yesterday, or was fatally wounded by accident. The Post reports that Ellinghaus, who lived with his father in Ozone Park, Queens, lit an M80 firecracker and held it against his body. The device was so powerful it "tore a hole through his stomach, leaving his organs exposed." Ellinghaus' father, Theodore Sr., told the paper he doesn't believe his son would commit suicide. "It was an accident. It went off. He wouldn't kill himself. He told me he wouldn't kill himself." more ›

Earlier this week, the nation turned its attention to the ruthless criminal who stole a woman's iPhone 4 in Ozone Park. Thanks to iGotYa, an app that snaps a photo of whoever is attempting to unlock the phone and emails it to the owner, 23-year-old Queens resident Brian Chattoo was identified by the police and arrested. Hopefully, everyone with an iPhone will download this application so the NYPD can focus on the cases that really matter. more ›

An 80-year-old woman is suing Home Depot for age discrimination after the store fired her for buying four 6-cent screws and not actually taking them home. Ellen Strickland says she bought the 24-cents worth of merchandise in order to get cash back on her debit card, something employees did all the time to avoid being charged ATM fees. However, Home Depot accused her of messing up inventory and after a "full investigation" she was fired less than 24 hours later. more ›

A livery cab driver is in critical condition after being shot multiple times by a passenger, who turned to shoot the driver after being dropped off in Ozone Park last night. Driver Trevor Bel, 53, was shot at 122nd Street near Sutter Avenue, a dead end road. Some reports say he was shot twice, while others say he was shot at least four times. He is currently in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital. more ›

Two separate drag racing incidents left two men dead in Brooklyn and Queens yesterday, according to witnesses. The first fatality happened around 10 a.m. in Ozone Park, near 78th Street on North Conduit Avenue, which cops call a hot spot for drag racers. Driver Geraud Gray, 24, of East Flatbush, lost control of his black Nissan and crashed into a pole. The Post, which has a photo of the totaled Nissan flipped over on its roof, reports that he was pronounced dead at the scene. Locals were dismayed by the fatal crash, but not surprised. more ›

This week, Timothy West was acquitted of all charges related to the rape of a 21-year-old Applebee's waitress in Ozone Park. And then he was shipped right back to prison, where he is serving out a seven-year prison term for an attempted burglary in another case. The Daily News was able to get a jailhouse interview with him and ask about the attempted rape charges: "I never raped her and the jury saw that. I don't know why she'd say that, but it's not true. I have sisters. My mother raised me. I would never disrespect a woman like that. It's just wrong." more ›

We were surprised yesterday when Timothy West, the man who was accused of breaking into the Ozone Park home of an Applebee's waitress, raping her twice at knife-point, and then later texting her for a date, was acquitted of all charges. This was despite the fact that the waitress had convinced West to call her, and got him to apologize for the crime on the phone, which was recorded by police and later played for jurors. It turns out that the jury flat out didn't believe the waitress's story. more ›

Timothy West, the man who was accused of raping a 21-year-old waitress and then later texting her for a date, was reportedly found not guilty of all charges today, according to the Post. After the jury acquitted West on all five charges of rape and burglary, the Judge scolded him for hugging his lawyer, who was held in contempt of court earlier this week. Considering that West was caught having a phone conversation with the waitress in which he admitted on tape to the crime, it is quite hard to understand what happened. We have a sinking suspicion that a prosecutor really bombed this one though. more ›

In Queens court yesterday, jurors heard the tape of the Applebee's waitress setting up her alleged rapist after he texted her for a second date. "Yeah, what's goin', girl? Some police to my sister's crib all lookin' for me...So, you mad at me?" Timothy West asked his victim. She confronted him about breaking into her parents house in Ozone Park, raping her twice by knife-point: "What do you mean, I'm mad at you? Of course, you know, I don't know you like that, and just over here, raping me and everything with a knife in your hand. Damn! What you gotta say about that?" more ›

We all know that sexting can get you in serious trouble, but for one accused rapist, sending a text was all it took: Timothy West allegedly broke into the home of a 21-year-old Applebee's waitress in Ozone Park, raped her twice by knifepoint in her bedroom, demanded she cook for him, and then asked for her cell phone number. Two days later, he texted her to set a date, and she called police: "I hoped he would call so I could set him up with the police," she told jurors in court yesterday. Cops taped their following conversation, and then busted him. Thankfully, we have alleged rapists who are dumb enough to go for follow-up dates. more ›

Teacher Joseph Gullotta and assistant Abraham Fox were accused of starting an impromptu "Fight Club" at PS 65 in Ozone Park earlier this year. They are facing child endangerment charges for the fighting, but according to new reports, the father of one of the boys involved is now making accusations that Gullotta groped his son on five occasions in 2009. more ›

The NYPD released a chilling surveillance camera video of a Queens botched robbery that turned into murder. In July, Barri Jahoor, 35, a welder and part-time cabbie, was found shot in the torso in his SUV near Liberty Ave. and 135th St. in Ozone Park. The attack took place close to 7 a.m. that morning, so the entire unfolding narrative can be viewed clearly in the video below. "What you are seeing is indeed a botched robbery," a police source told the Daily News. more ›

An unidentified homeless woman was found bludgeoned to death yesterday in the Police Officer Nicholas DeMutiis Playground in Ozone Park. The woman was found on a bench by another homeless man, and investigators believe she was beaten to death with a heavy, blunt object. Locals are upset, and say the woman was a friendly, permanent fixture in the park. Jacqueline Gallagher told the Post, "She was just trying to survive. She never asked for money." The playground was named after Officer Nicholas Demutiis, who was killed in a high-speed chase in the area in 1994. more ›

If Jack Kerouac were still alive, he'd be turning 88 today! The author and voice of the Beats made his way all over New York City during his lifetime (the Columbia Spectator just visited some of his old urban haunts)—but his life in Queens was never really well documented, even though he lived there for 12 years (leaving in 1955). more ›

Thursday's incident wasn't the first time a fourth grade teacher at PS 65 in Ozone Park allegedly turned his classroom into an impromptu fight club. In the wake of yesterday's publicity, another student's parent has come forward, claiming that last year Joseph Gullotta told his class that if 10-year-old Jovan Ortiz got up from his seat, the others were, in Jovan's words, "allowed to punch me in my face." His mother, Wajana Vallechillo, tells the Daily News she filed a complaint after classmates punched Jovan in the stomach twice, and says that during a meeting with Gullota, he cried and said he was just trying to "toughen up" Jovan. more ›

A fourth grade teacher and a teacher's aide at PS 65 in Ozone Park allegedly turned their classroom into an impromptu fight club on Thursday. Instructor Joseph Gullotta, 29, from Long Island, was simply trying to teach his students how to settle their differences—through brute force on random victims—but apparently that macho approach is frowned upon by the DOE. The incident reportedly started when 10-year-old Tomas Rivera got into an argument with a classmate, and Gullotta suggested that instead of taking out his anger on his adversary, Rivera should wrestle a younger classmate, 9-year-old Justin Stokel. Makes perfect sense. more ›

Principal Quintin Cedeno has been fired from his post after an investigation revealed that he had touched or solicited oral sex from at least four male students in a Queens high school, according to NY1. Cedeno was also "engaging in electronic communications and inappropriate conversations with at least eight male students," texting a 16-year-old that he was "mad u guys didn't invite me" to hang out at night, the Times reports. more ›

Bring it on, thieves: Ozone Park octogenarian Harry Luft is ready. Sure, you may have burglarized his house three times in the past 20 years, but just try it one more time. Luft will be wide awake and waiting, monitoring the perimeter of his small property through nine security cameras as you get all cut up on the barbed wire he's strung around his yard. And should you somehow make it past that, good luck getting inside the compound, which is protected by roll-down gates, window bars, four locks on the front door, and Luft's constant vigilance. more ›

Three Queens students were brought to the hospital yesterday after complaining of sickness right after they received the H1N1 vaccine. Within twenty minutes of getting vaccinated, one student of PS 124 in South Ozone Park "complained of a headache" says NY1, and overall 16 students said they felt ill. However, of the three girls brought to the hospital, one wasn't even given the vaccine in the first place! Maybe the dog ate her homework? more ›

Following the 40th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's death (which was yesterday), a fan of the author is speaking out again about the lack of recognition the beat gets in his one-time home borough of Queens. more ›

A Queens Pathmark is being sued by a woman who ended up covered in tomato sauce. No, 55-year-old Patricia Samaroo didn't get the tomato treatment following a bad comedy routine, she simply ended up the victim of a toppled-over stack of sauce jars when a display collapsed on top of her at the Ozone Park grocery store. Samaroo says that nine months after the accident, she still has pain in her neck and uses painkillers for the incident that left her "sick, lame, sore and disabled." What drew the Long Islander to the unstable stack—famous last words: "It was on sale." Samaroo's suit claims that Pathmark was negligent for failing to determine if jars were likely to topple and fall. She tells the News, "I was in shock when it happened. All I know is that I was covered in spaghetti sauce." While there is no surveillance video of the incident, we did find a disaster from the Canadian version of after the jump that might suffice. more ›

A Queens man trying to rescue his wife and daughter became the latest victim to drown in the Rockaways this summer. 36-year-old father of two Jose-Luis Olivares of Ozone Park became the sixth person to fall prey to the rough tides along the Queens beaches, the second to die at Jacob Riis Park. Olivares went into the water after his wife and ten-year-old daughter around 7 p.m.—an hour after life guards go off-duty. An off-duty park ranger pulled Olivares out and he was airlifted to Peninsula Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Both his wife and daughter survived; it was unclear how they managed to get out of the water. The victim's brother told the Post, "We're all feeling very bad right now because he was a hero today. He saved his daughter and his wife. He is a very good father — he loves his daughter. She is devastated." Parks officials continue to search for the body of Heyward "Winky" Patterson, who was pulled in while swimming late at night on a nearby beach earlier in the week. more ›

An off-duty NYPD officer was arrested early Sunday morning after allegedly threatening a bouncer at a Queens club who refused to let him in. It was around 1 a.m. on Sunday when Officer Trevor Harpaul, 28, arrived at Mingles Lounge in Ozone Park wearing a red baseball cap, sneakers and shorts. But such sartorial stylings are prohibited at Mingles, and the doorman denied him entry. A manager tells the Daily News the officer was "very intoxicated with slurred speech. He insisted on coming in." Harpaul, a four-year member of the force assigned to Brooklyn's 84th Precinct, allegedly flashed his badge and told the bouncer, "You think you're big? I've got something for you." Police sources say he then retrieved an unlicensed handgun with a defaced serial number from his car, pointed it at the bouncer and asked, "Where's your mouth now?" Two uniformed officers soon arrived and arrested Harpaul, who also had marijuana in his car. He's charged with weapons possession, reckless endangerment and menacing, as well as possession of marijuana and other counts. But can you blame Trevor Harpaul for getting upset? The man was turned away from Mingles in Ozone Park. more ›

A toddler is in critical condition after being struck last night by a hit-and-run driver in the Woodhaven section of Queens. A two-year-old girl wandered away from her house where she was with family around 9:30 p.m. and found her way onto the Rockaway Boulevard and 185th Street intersection where she was hit. The vehicle drove off and the girl remained lying in the street until another driver spotted her and called police. The girl was rushed off to Jamaica Hospital where she remains in critical condition. No witnesses were able to get a description of the vehicle. Police urge anyone with information to call, text or visit the Crime Stoppers website. more ›

A man who apparently robbed a Capital One bank before fleeing the cops fell to his death from an elevated subway platform. MyFoxNY reports, "Around 1:35 p.m., the thief entered a Capital One Bank branch on 113th Street and Liberty Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, and demanded cash. A bank clerk gave the robber some cash with a dye pack." He ran to the A train station, where the Post says the dye pack exploded,which "spooked" the thief. After tossing the cash into the trash, he ran on the tracks, but cops were headed his way at 113th Street: "The bold thief, who sources said was wanted in other heists, then chose flight over fight, trying to make the 20-foot leap onto the roof of a building below. But he missed and fell to the street." more ›

Are Queens and Kerouac getting overlooked by the Landmarks Preservation Commission? Preservationists are making some noise about the Ozone Park walk-up where Jack Kerouac started On the Road. He lived with his parents at the 133-01 Cross Bay Blvd home starting in 1943, after being let out of a Navy psychiatric ward with an "Honorable Discharge With Indifferent Character." The apartment is something locals would like to see preserved and honored, and this Sunday the Queens Historical Society will run a guided trolley tour past not only the home, but seven other sites. more ›

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has announced a major bust of a Craigslist prostitution ring operating out of Queens. Room Service Entertainment ran their escort service out of Ozone Park and sent women to each of the five boroughs and beyond by advertising on the site's "Erotic Services" section. Today is the first day Craigslist is without their Erotic Services section, after calls from politicians to shut it down led them to replace it with the new staff-monitored "Adult Services" section, the place you can now turn if you're in need of a Shemale Italian Stallionette from State Island. more ›

An 18-year-old was arrested last night in the shooting death of an Ozone Park resident. The Daily News says Beni Jagdesh had just pulled into his driveway when he saw Wade Cameron in his yard and told him to move (NY1 reports, "Camerson started banging on the car and Jagdesh got out to confront him"; WABC 7 says Jagdesh's car almost hit Cameron). Jagdesh's brother-in-law Sham Jagnanan, says Cameron punched him in the face and then took out a gun and fired at Jagdesh, possibly in retaliation for Jagdesh and Jagnanan holding or hitting him with a broom stick (reports are unclear). Jagnanan said Jadesh yelled that Cameron had a gun, "I guess that actually brought me to reality and made keep running. I ran towards Rockaway and that's where I was able to alert police officers." Jagdesh died from his wounds and Cameron was charged with murder and weapons possession. more ›

A 9 months pregnant 25-year-old woman was found dead in a Queens house last night. Naisha Delaine was stabbed multiple times in the stomach (the unborn child also died) and slashed in the throat. more ›

Late last night, livery cab driver Winston Frank was killed in a hit-and-run that police believe was preceded by a robbery. Frank, apparently an unlicensed driver, had picked up a fare in Ozone Park. While driving, police think he argued with female passenger in the front seat--and the woman pushed him out of the car. Halfway out of the car by his seat belt, Frank was then struck by a passing car; a witness told the AP, "He was being dragged the whole time." The woman apparently drove off in Frank's car, which was found abandoned a few blocks away. WABC 7 reports a witness saw two men approach the car and then take "out with a black box." The police are looking for the woman and the driver of the passing car. more ›