Results tagged “richardbrown”

The woman who killed her abusive father after strangling and castrating him in 2007 was acquitted of murder yesterday. However, Brigitte Harris was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter, a verdict she immediately said she was happy with. The 28-year-old had told jurors that, after years of rape and physical abuse at her father's hands, she was just trying to prevent him from abusing his two young granddaughters (her nieces), but not kill him.

A St. John's student was arrested after threatening to "do some Virginia Tech shit" as his Facebook status. Radames Santiago, an 18-year-old from Washington Heights, posted the vague threat on Monday and then followed up the next day with a status that he “knows he will do it. You know I will, and to make sure that people watch CNN or something every day after” he kills everyone. Instead of tuning in, "friends" of Santiago dialed up St. John's officials, who informed police. Santiago justified "what he was doing" by giving the same reasons that many people leave a Facebook status that causes their friends to banish them to their hidden lists—he told cops that he was drunk and depressed "about everything" when he left them. Now that's a status that may have gotten some Likes. Instead Santiago could now face up to 7 years in prison. Queens DA Richard Brown said, “If a defendant posts a threat on a social networking site it will be treated seriously and investigated thoroughly." Two years ago, the campus was locked down when a student brought a rifle to campus; he was apparently schizophrenic.

Queens DA Richard Brown announced a major bust yesterday of a ring of car thieves who were casually driving SUVs off of dealership lots. The nine suspects arrested in "Operation Lockbox" hit a total of nine different dealerships around Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island where they made off with over $400,000 in Lincolns, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes.

There's nothing quite like walking hand in hand with the one you love on the Brooklyn Promenade, gazing across the East River into Manhattan, watching the sunset, and remembering you have to pay your Verizon bill. The Brooklyn Paper reports that one man is so angry about the glowing Verizon logo affixed to the equally uninspired building, that he's "vowing to ramp up the fight." Brooklyn Heights newcomer Richard Brown, "who now spends significant time on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade with a new significant other, said he first noticed the 'unsightly blemish' as he and his lady were enjoying a sunset a few weeks ago." Ever since, the sign, housed at 375 Pearl Street, has become the Moby Dick to his Ahab.

Another twist in the murder case of Queens dentist Daniel Malakov: The sister of his ex-wife - who remains in jail for plotting to kill Malakov - was arrested for threatening Malakov's brother.

A former math teacher at MS 190 in Forest Hills was arrested for child endangerment after allegedly sending former and present male students lewd instant messages. Bradley Dieffenbacher, 33, of Long Island, had worked at MS 190 since 2000 until his resignation on February 14, when investigators confronted him.

According to new NYPD statistics, graffiti complaints in Brooklyn rose 96% last year, with arrests in the borough increasing by 33%. Citywide, complaints almost doubled from 4,886 in 2006 to 8,866 in 2007, and total arrests rose from 2,962 to 3,786. Williamsburg leads the tagging trend with a total of 186 complaints.

The Queens DA's office and NYPD revealed new details about the killing of a Queens dentist. and why his estranged wife was arrested for murder and conspiracy. Daniel Malakov, who had been fighting with wife Dr. Mazultov Borukhova over custody of their young daughter, was gunned down at a playground last October when taking the 4-year-old to his wife for visitation.

Three and a half months after Queens orthodontist Daniel Malakov was gunned down at a Queens playground in front of his young daughter, his estranged wife was arrested for his murder. Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova was charged with murder and conspiracy and taken to a precinct house from her Forest Hills home. Malakov's mother told the Daily News, "They're dirty...her whole family, mother, sisters, all of them are animals. They committed such a dirty act, and I ask God for them to get everything they did to me, so that it would come back to them from God."

Queens DA Richard Brown announced an off-duty NYPD detective and his girlfriend were charged with promoting the prostitution of a 13-year-old Brooklyn runaway. Brown said, “This case is every parent and every child’s worst nightmare – made even more frightening by the fact that one of the defendants is a police officer who swore to uphold the law and protect the community he serves.”

Queens City Councilman Dennis Gallagher, whose office was raided last July after rape allegations and was indicted by a grand jury in August, is smiling - for now. A judge dismissed the indictment, believing the defense's claim that the "grand jury process was compromised." The jurors had complained the prosecutors were trying to make Gallagher look "foolish."

On the day that MySpace agreed to work with 49 states to stop sexual predators from using the social networking site to find young victims, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown was announcing a disturbing 56-charge criminal complaint against a couple accused of rape, sexual abuse, and forcing two young teens into performing sexual acts at a Manhattan strip club. Julio Rojas, a stripper, is being held on $500,000 bail while his wife, Sophie Soto, also a stripper, is being held on $250,000 bail.

The three police officers facing trial for the November 2006 shooting of an unarmed man are requesting to their trial moved from Queens. Lawyers for Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper claim they won't be able to get a fair trial in Queens, blaming media attention for "incurably poison[ing]" any potential jury pool.

If lawyers for the detectives involved in the Sean Bell case get their way, the venue for a trial may be moved out of Queens. The attorneys for Detectives Mike Oliver, Gescard Isnora, and Marc Cooper met with Judge Arthur Cooperman and prosecutors yesterday to notify them of their intent to move the case out of Queens. Oliver and Isnora are charged with manslaughter while Cooper is facing reckless endangerment in the shooting death of Bell in November, 2006. Bell, Joseph Guzman, and Trent Benefield, all found to be unarmed, were fired upon 50 times by police officers.

Last weekend, a young woman was celebrating her 19th birthday when two men crashed her party and later raped her. The police arrested one of the suspects yesterday and are still looking for the second.

Prosecutors having intimate relationships with defense lawyers happens on TV shows all the time, but a real life drama is playing out in Brooklyn. Former prosecutor Sandra Fernandez, accused of using her position in the Brooklyn DA's office to give information to her defense lawyer fiance, was arraigned on 12 counts of criminal charges. Fernandez allegedly ran criminal history and motor vehicle checks on three prosecution witnesses in cases handled by fiance - and now...

A bookkeeper for a Manhattan printing company pleaded not guilty to killing his 13-month-old daughter. Peter O'Keffe was arrested on Sunday after his wife returned to their Queens home after running errands on Saturday, to find their child unresponsive on the floor and her husband missing. Prosecutors say that O'Keeffe hit the baby in order to make her stop crying. From the Queens DA's office:According to statements made to police following his arrest, O’Keeffe admitted...

The Queens DA's office is allegedly split over how to handle a Halloween night fight in Howard Beach.

Queens prosecutors announced yesterday that a teenager acting as a drug mule was arrested at JFK airport on Tuesday. Anthony Cruz, 16, was stopped by customs officials as he arrived on an American Airlines flight from Santiago in the Dominican Republic. X-rays of his body revealed 80 balloons of heroin with a total weight of 988 grams (nearly 1 kilo and more than 2 pounds). According to officials, the heroin was worth $500,000.

The 22-year-old St. John's University student who brought a loaded .50 caliber rifle to the Queens campus on Wednesday was arraigned in his hospital room at Bellevue yesterday. Communicating via a video link to the Queens Criminal Court, Omesh Hiraman appeared "frail in his blue pajamas" (NY Times), while he "hands shook and he "rocked back and forth" (Daily News), but seemed lucid during the proceedings. Judge Deborah Stevens Modica ordered that he be given a psychiatric evaluation to determine his mental fitness.

Omesh Hiraman, the 22-year-old St. John's University student who caused panic when he brought a .50 cailber rifle on campus, will be arraigned today in his hospital room at Bellevue. Queens DA Richard Brown said that Hiraman was being "held on two counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon (with intent to use said weapon unlawfully against another and possession of a rifle in a building or grounds used for educational purposes) and several violations of the New York City Administrative Code (possession of a rifle without a permit or a certificate of registration)." He will face up to one year in prison if convicted.

In May of 2000, five employees of a Wendy's in Flushing were killed in the basement, while two others were injured. John Taylor and Craig Godineaux were arrested and charged with the murders. While Godineaux pleaded guilty to the crimes and is serving a life sentence without parole, Taylor, a former Wendy's employee, was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2002.

The NYPD revealed that they have arrested four members of the Crips gang who robbed four bodegas in Queens in just three hours on Sunday. Queens DA Richard Brown says that the four, Gregory Burrowes, Jeremy Edwards, Keon Gill, and Ryan Carter would target mom-and-pop stores, with only bandannas covering their faces. They "walked down the street robbing one bodega only minutes after having robbed another."

Jack Rhodes, the man suspected of robbing and beating elderly woman in Queens, was indicted yesterday on 35 charges of burglary, assault, robbery, and, yes, hate crimes.

It took a jury four hours to convict Khemwhatie Bedessie of raping a 4-year-old child under her care at a Queens day care center in 2006. Bedessie's lawyer Stephen Turano had argued she had been coerced into falsely confessing, after a detective said she would released if she confessed. On Monday, Bedessie testified, "I tell [the detective], yes, I will do anything he want so he will send me home. He promised that I'm going to go home and see my mommy and her never let me go."

Queens DA Richard Brown announced that Joseph Burrell of Jamaica, Queens has been arrested and arraigned for a particularly vicious attack. Apparently, Burrell lured an acquaintance to his home for a barbecue then assaulted her for hours in his garage.

The police officer accused of killing his ex-girlfriend during an argument on a Queens street was arraigned yesterday. Harry Rupnarine, 38, who joined the NYPD 2 years ago and worked on the transit task force, was charged with second degree murder. Though his lawyer said Rupnarine had family members willing to put up their life savings for bail, Rupnarine was held without bail. Queens DA Richard Brown said, "This is a tragic case from any perspective. A young woman is murdered. A New York City police officer is charged with her death. However, the sad reality is that this was, in essence, a domestic violence incident that occurs all too frequently and illustrates that police officers are not immune from social problems that are endemic in our society.” The NYPD has suspended him without pay.

Queens DA Richard Brown revealed that two men had plotted to kill a police officer. Andrew Spencer, held in Rikers on gun possession charges, asked his friend, ex-con Kiyee Kye, for help in shooting the cop, who had arrested Spencer last summer and was scheduled to testify against him.

Middle College High School in Queens decided not to leave things to chance when a senior wrote a note saying, "So you think Virginia Tech was bad? Just wait for the MCHS Prom! Unlike VTech there won't be any injured, I'll get the job done." The student, 17-year-old Michael DiGiovanni, was found out because the note and fliers made from it were found in the school computer lab on Monday. And the city wants us to be impressed with high school graduation rates?

Welcome to the dumb fan hall of fame, Frank Martinez! Martinez was arrested on Friday after he shined a high-powered flashlight onto Shea Stadium's field during the Mets-Braves game. Martinez used a Streamline flashlight to bother Braves pitcher Tim Hudson and shortstop Edgar Renteria, and second base umpire Paul Emmel had to call a timeout because he was "visually impaired."