The attorney for the U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians says that the military is preventing him from collecting evidence to build a defense. "We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government," attorney John Henry Browne told Reuters. "When prosecutors don't cooperate, it's because they are concerned about the strength of their case." more ›

The soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians, including women and children, made an ominous and disturbing Facebook comment during an exchange with a friend back home in 2010. The Wall Street Journal reports that the comment was made in response to a childhood friend's message: "Sup brother?" wrote the friend, Steven Berling. "Hope all is well overseas!!! Been a long time, look me up when you get back in town,,, we'll go drink some brews!!!" The accused soldier, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, replied, "You got it. Overseas is boring this trip, pretty dumb. Giving money to Hagi instead of bullets don't seem right." more ›

A judge has dismissed a former Fox News staffer's suit against the the company's landlord over bed bug bites she got at the office, saying that the building "took extraordinary measures" to keep the bugs out. Jane Clark claims she had to leave her job in 2008 after her coworker's apartment became infested and brought the bugs to work. But Justice Carol Edmead said there was nothing more the building can do. Who's excited for this summer? more ›

As if getting to do MMA fighting despite getting pension for "lung problems" wasn't sketchy enough, the Post reports on a "PENSION EXPLOSION," where some retired NYPD officers are being investigated for allegedly faking mental illness to get an extra $3,500 a month Social Security benefits. Though they were deemed sane enough to carry guns during their careers, the cops in question are being targeted by the feds, and have set off a corruption probe. One supervisor allegedly told one retired cop, "You're f- -ked! You need to get a criminal-defense attorney." more ›

It was almost two years ago that a cop was caught on surveillance camera beating a handcuffed Army vet in the lobby of his mother's Upper West Side building, but the footage still hasn't surfaced online. You may recall that the accused officer, David London, actually paused during the beating to take a phone call, then resumed hitting Walter Harvin with his baton (allegedly!). Jury selection in London's trial began yesterday, despite the fact that Harvin has been missing for months. more ›

There's a simple explanation for why Port Authority cop William Burns had all that porn on his computer: 9/11! Burns was busted by Internal Affairs police in April 2007 after porn was found on his work computer, and in the subsequent probe, they also discovered that he stole more than $4,400 from the Port Authority by using toll and hotel vouchers without authorization. more ›

A therapist told Officer Frank Chiafari to "politely decline" when asked to tell the awful story of the day Travis the chimp mauled Charla Nash in CT, ripping off her hands and face, but recently he made an exception. According to the officer—who's been denied Workers Comp for a PTSD claim after shooting the animal—it all started with a "humorous-sounding" call across the radio early last year. “[It] came over as ‘monkey attacking someone,’" he told the Times. But as he drove to scene he thought “Wait a minute, that’s Travis.” He'd met the "friendly" chimpanzee before: Travis's owners had a towing company and would sometimes bring him along when police called them to move vehicles. Chiafari pulled up he saw what looked like a pile of clothes. “Then I realized it’s a human being,” he said. “It was all ripped apart.” That's when Travis began bashing the window of his cruiser. more ›

Former NYPD detective Brian Tuitt, who once tracked down pedophiles online, is doing time for molesting over half a dozen young girls. But that didn't stop Tuitt from trying to sue the city over the post-traumatic stress disorder he claims afflicts him because of the months he spent working at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attack. Tuitt says he wasn't properly diagnosed with PTSD until late 2008, while he was being held at Rikers Island, thus causing him to miss a three-year deadline to state his intention to sue for personal injuries. Getting busted for pedophilia does tend to disrupt one's life! But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower has ruled that a deadline's a deadline, and found no evidence that Tuit suffers from PTSD anyway. more ›

Last week, a retired NYPD cop was arrested for taking the Orangetown Superintendent hostage while wielding a gun. According to the Mid-Hudson News, Peter Cocker, 36, had "forced his way into Mitchell’s office. During a violent struggle, Mitchell wrestled the gun away and held cocker down on the floor." Apparently Cocker was upset by Mitchell's letter about the school's swine flu policy, which explained that though there were growing absences, the school would remain open per the county Health Department's advice. It later turned out that Cocker's gun was unloaded, but the district attorney said, "The assumption was that it was loaded, which could have led to a lot of injuries. ... So the seriousness is the same and the law treats it almost the same." Cocker pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, burglary, coercion and gun crimes; his lawyer said that his client has post-traumatic stress disorder, due to being involved in a shootout and spending a week "separating body parts" after the September 11 attacks. more ›