A 47-year-old man was critically injured when he was struck by a driver in Brooklyn last night. The pedestrian was crossing 6th Avenue at 51st Street when a car slammed into him and kept going. And police may have found the car. more ›

Police say they've apprehended the man who impersonated a police officer in order to lure a 15-year-old boy into his van and sexually assault him. Suspect Steven Pappas, 50, is a level 3 sex offender who was just released from prison this month after a burglary case. NBC New York reports that his sex abuse arrest was from 2000 and involved a 14-year-old. You'll recall from yesterday's report that a striking police sketch of the man (below) was released as investigators searched for him, and it looks like the sketch was right on the money. more ›

The NYPD has released this sketch of a man they say posed as a police officer and sexually assaulted a teenage boy in Brooklyn on Friday morning. According to police, the man, who was dressed as a civilian, approached the 15-year-old boy around 9:30 a.m. on a subway platform at the 53rd Street and 4th Avenue subway station in Sunset Park. After seeing the teen throw an empty bag of chips onto the platform, investigators say he produced what appeared to be a police badge and ordered the teen to accompany him. more ›

Early yesterday morning, a Sri Lankan immigrant working as an overnight clerk at a Brooklyn porn shop was beaten to death in what cops believe was a botched robbery. Nimala Randunu, 54, was bludgeoned to death around 12:30 a.m. at Video Xcitement Inc. on 3rd Avenue near 25th Street. It turns out that a 60-year-old customer was in a private video booth at the time of the incident; when he came out, he found Randunu dead and the attacker fleeing, and quickly called police. more ›

A clerk at a Brooklyn porn shop was beaten to death early this morning in what cops believe was a botched robbery. The clerk, who the Post identified as Nemal Randunu and who was apparently in his 50s, was bludgeoned to death around 12:30 a.m. at Video Xcitement Inc. on 3rd Avenue near 25th Street. “I don't know what happened. The police are still looking into it, but it might have been a robbery,” the owner of the 24-hour Sunset Park sex shop told the Daily News. more ›

The Heartland Brewery bartender who was arrested and accused of being one of the suspects terrorizing and sexually assaulting Brooklyn woman—only for a witness to recant identifying him in a lineup—tells the Post, "This was torture... I don’t know how to deal with the situation, I’m just trying to clear my name. I’m 100 percent innocent." more ›

The man arrested for allegedly groping an 18-year-old woman in Sunset Park Monday night has reportedly confessed to police, and apparently he's wanted for a similar incident in Chinatown in 2007. Police sources tell Murray Weiss at DNAinfo that Adolfo Martinez, 26, blamed his alleged perversion on a car accident that sparked "urges." Martinez reportedly told investigators during questioning, "I have a problem. I get these little urges... This is all I do." Another source tells Weiss that Martinez said, "I do this sometimes." more ›

Police say they've arrested the man who groped a woman in Sunset Park Monday night, but it's unclear if the man is responsible for any of the other sexual assaults that have terrorized parts of Brooklyn over the past several months. Adolfo Martinez, 26, faces charges of sex abuse in the 3rd degree, CBS 2 reports. Martinez allegedly sneaked up behind his 18-year-old victim as she left a subway station at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue around 8 p.m., groped her buttocks, and ran away. more ›

Last night around 8 p.m. an 18-year-old woman was sexually assaulted just after she left a subway station at 36th Street and Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park—a day after an attempted rape in the neighborhood. Last night's victim says the man sneaked up behind her, groped her buttocks, and ran away. Though the assault seems to resemble a dozen other similar assaults that have locals on edge in South Brooklyn, police say this one does not fit the pattern. Of course, they initially said that about a sexual assault in Windsor Terrace on Sunday and then changed their minds, so who knows? What we do know is that many locals are alarmed—and think the NYPD isn't doing enough. more ›

A group of masked ATM robbers are on the loose across Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Park Slope, identifiable only by their signature move: splashing the crime scene with bleach. Wait, where have we seen this so-called "cash'n'splash" move before? Oh, right in that Ben Affleck movie The Town! Kids really do imitate celebrities these days. more ›

Police are investigating three sexual assaults that took place in Brooklyn and Queens in the span of 24 hours this weekend. The first reported incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, when a woman grabbed at knifepoint in Springfield Gardens, Queens, on 145th Road near the Belt Parkway. The unidentified woman was walking home when she was tackled from behind by a man who tried to sexually assault her. Police sources tell NY1 that her assailant ran off when she screamed for help. more ›

In an effort to find a break in the case of an assailant (or possibly two) who police believe has raped one woman and sexually assaulted at least ten across Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge, the NYPD is showing footage of victims being approached to prisoners as they're processed through Central Booking. "We have some videos that show victims being approached," Commissioner Kelly tells the Post. "We're asking people perhaps they recognize a trait or walk on an individual." more ›

A Brooklyn man was arrested yesterday and accused of sexually assaulting at least three women over the last month. Federico Chamorro Yax, 22, has been charged with assault, sex abuse and forcible touching in the assaults. But police are not yet sure whether Yax is the same person as the man/men who have been terrorizing women around Park Slope for the past few months, and warn that he may be a copycat. more ›

As women in Park Slope, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge remain on edge with two, possible more, sexual assault suspects on the loose, community members are trying to reassure women by starting volunteer efforts to escort women from the subway. On the other hand, the police are telling some women to stop asking for it by wearing skirts and shorts. more ›

Last night around 9:30 p.m., a woman was fondled by a man on Prospect Avenue between 4th and 5th Avenues in Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, "The woman told police that the pervert sneaked up behind her as she left [the subway station]... She screamed when he grabbed at her breasts, prompting him to run away." While the police have not linked the incident to the series of sexual assaults on women in Park Slope, Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, a Daily News source said, "[The victim] said he looked like the guy from the posters." more ›

Watch out, cheap eaters: a Brooklyn company has recalled 11,000 lbs of dumplings because they may contain a nefarious undeclared allergen—milk. more ›

Last night, police officers met with Brooklyn residents at a local community safety meeting to update them about series of sexual assaults, including one rape, that have occurred in Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge. The fears have prompted a rally, a volunteer effort to escort women to their homes (cyclists have also offered to escort women) and concerns that the police ignored a 911 call about the rapist. The NYPD, which believes there are at least two suspects, released a new surveillance video and also refuted claims they aren't being responsive. more ›

Police have released a third sketch of a man who they are seeking in a torrent of sexual assaults that have occurred in Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge since April of this year. This sketch comes from the account of a victim in Sunset Park on September 4. "Now we believe there are two, maybe three individuals involved," Deputy Inspector Paul Pintos tells the Brooklyn Paper. "After talking to victims, some of the descriptions seem to vary. The latest victims describe the suspect to be muscular, which was not the case before." more ›

Earlier today we received a tip that there had been another attempted sexual assault in Park Slope, a neighborhood that along with Sunset Park and Bay Ridge has been terrorized by a series of similar attacks. Our tipster wrote, "There was another attempted (and failed) rape in Park Slope last night—check parkslopeparents.com. It should be reported—this guy is bold." Since Park Slope parents is restricted to, well, Park Slope parents, we remained in the dark until this disturbing news surfaced on FiPS. Here's an email they received from the woman who was attacked: more ›

Police have released a new sketch of the man who is suspected of raping one woman and targeting four others in Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge Brooklyn. According to the Daily News, this latest rendering comes from the description of a woman who narrowly broke free from him after he attacked her at Prospect and Sixth Avenues on August 26th. more ›

Since early Spring, an unidentified man has been roaming Park Slope, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge in search of rape victims. Last Friday night police believe he struck again, attempting to rape a woman he followed from the Prospect Avenue subway station about 8:30 p.m. If this is the same perpetrator, he broke from his pattern of targeting women under cover of darkness—the other four attacks that police say are connected happened between 10:30 p.m. and 4 a.m. In this case, the man reportedly grabbed the woman from behind at Prospect and Sixth Avenues, but she broke free and scared him off. more ›

Despite the impending dismissal of charges of rape and robbery against him and his marriage to a US citizen, a Brooklyn livery driver is facing deportation for overstaying a one-year visa issued in 1999. "They made a huge mistake and stopped my life for no reason," 24-year-old William Geraldo tells the Post. more ›

Manhattan's Chinatown might want to think of a new name, because it's not actually home to the most Chinese people anymore, according to new city data. If you want to get in with the Chinese crowd these days, Sunset Park and Flushing are where it's at. more ›

A black market for homemade rice wine—those unmarked tubs of reddish liquid stacked up in the corner of your favorite dumpling shop?— is thriving in the depths of Chinatown, and authorities aren't quite sure what to do about it. more ›

A 32-year-old woman is dead after a car driven by her boyfriend drove into a street median and hit a light pole and another car on Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park last night. And not only was the boyfriend charged with DWI, apparently the car belonged to the boyfriend's wife. The Daily News reports, "[Nyron] Isaac, an unemployed maintenance worker, was supposed to be home watching his 10-year-old son, according to his wife, Tennile Isaac, 29, who has been seeking a divorce. She had warned him not to drive the Cadillac, which she was transferring ownership of to him, because it was uninsured, she said." more ›

Police are questioning a man who was the target of a citywide manhunt in connection with a series of attempted rapes and one alleged rape in Sunset Park and Park Slope. Earlier today we shared video of the man inside a Dunkin' Donuts; this person has since come forward, but he insists he's innocent. more ›

The NYPD is asking New Yorkers to be on the lookout for this guy, who's believed to be the perpetrator of at least four attacks on women in Sunset Park and Park Slope since March. In three out of the four assaults, his victims were able to fend themselves off, but police say that just before 3 a.m. on Saturday the assailant followed a 28-year-old woman into the vestibule of her apartment on 55th St. in Sunset Park and raped her. Here's surveillance video of the man police believe is responsible: more ›

We hope we don't step on anybody's claws by pointing out that it sometimes seems as if cat owners are sniffing the proverbial cat nip. Oh sure, we love cat fashion shows as much as the next red-blooded American, and surely gay cat marriage has paved major ground for gay human marriage. But once you start talking about mummifying your beloved Mr. Patches through ancient Egyptian rituals...well, it's like Bob Dylan once said: "You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way from getting your cat mummified by a necromancer in Sunset Park." more ›

Now that the weekend is almost here, and you can probably escape your desk for food, it's the perfect time to embark upon an ethnic eating adventure. Might we suggest hopping the R train to Sunset Park to check out Yun Nan Flavor Snack, one of the city's only purveyors of Yunnanese (the southern Chinese province bordering Vietnam) food? Don't expect much from the decor at this hole-in-the-wall, but do be prepared for some unique, strangely addictive noodles and dumplings for little more than the cost of the subway ride that got you there. more ›

A Brooklyn man allegedly strangled and killed his girlfriend during an argument in their Sunset Park apartment, while their 7-year-old daughter and other relatives were sleeping. Daniel Elias fled the apartment and told his aunt to have someone check on girlfriend Cynthia Lopez. Elias's sister, who was in the apartment, ended up finding the 29-year-old woman "lying face up in her bed, unconscious." more ›