Results tagged “themanhattanda”

Alycia Lane, the Philadelphia newswoman who punched a female NYPD police officer, was relieved after appearing at Manhattan Criminal Court today. The Manhattan DA's office basically dismissed her case, for an "adjournment in contemplation of dismissal."

Despite some bizarre behavior during his arraignment earlier this week, David Tarloff has been found fit to stand trial for the cleaver-hacking murder of psychologist Kathryn Faughey. The initial target of Tarloff's wrath was Dr. Kent Shinbach, whose office was next door to Faughey's. Shinbach apparently had Tarloff institutionalized some years ago and the schizophrenic man had undergone electro-shock treatments.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed $464,600 in fines over two contractors' safety lapses at the Deutsche Bank building. Contractor Bovis Lend Lease, which had been retained by the state government, and its former subcontractor John Galt Corporation had been dismantling the building when a seven-alarm fire, caused by a worker's smoking, broke out last August.

Update: Police have arrested David Tarloff, a Queens resident and former patient of Shinbach's, for Faughey's murder. The Post reports Tarloff, described as overweight with a bald spot by neighbors, has a history of violent crime. Apparently fingerprints found on suitcases left at the crime scene led the police to Tarloff.

The Manhattan DA's office really wants to make sure people understand that jumping off the Empire State Building is not legal! Last year, a judge dismissed charges against "daredevil" Jeb Corliss who attempted to jump off the Empire State Building - with a parachute - in April 2006.

Anthony Marshall, the son of the late Brooke Astor, might have chosen a different lawyer if he suspected that he'd be eventually accused of looting his mother's estate. Or perhaps Francis X. Morrissey was the perfect man for the job. Papers are reporting today that Marshall's lawyer has a long history of profiting from soon-to-be-deceased clients. He was in court yesterday, arriving handcuffed, but leaving free on bail.It would seem to be the darkest moment...

Ten years ago today, Camden Sylvia and Michael Sullivan left their rent-stabilized loft in downtown Manhattan, went for a jog, rented a video and were never seen again. Today, the Daily News revisits the mystery and speaks to Sylvia's mother. Laurie Sylvia says, "I want to know what happened. Each year that goes by I think, maybe this year. I never imagined I would be doing that for 10 years."

Facing numerous drug charges that could put him away for the rest of his life, convicted murderer Robert Chambers pleaded not guilty during a Thursday court appearance. Chambers, 41, and his companion, 39-year-old Shawn Kovell, are accused of selling drugs from Kovell's rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment on East 57th Street in Manhattan. Earlier this week, the couple were busted by undercover officers.

The city has hired a criminal defense lawyer to represent its various agencies who are coming under attack for the Deutsche Bank fire that claimed two firefighters lives. The Manhattan DA's office started a criminal probe, after some disturbing practices by the contractors and questionable omissions by the Fire Department and the Buildings Department came to light. Eventually smoking, by workers hired to help dismantle the WTC-dust contaminated building, was cited as the probable cause of the fire; smoking is prohibited on job sites, especially ones involving hazardous materials such as the Deutsche Bank fire, but more alarmingly, a standpipe (which delivers water to other floors) had been disconnected, making fighting the fire much more difficult.

Maybe there is good reason to try to stay off Forbes' list of 400 wealthiest people. The Manhattan DA's office charged a 24-year-old Russian national with an elaborate identity ring that targeted rich Americans.

The Manhattan DA's office petitioned a judge for the release of 20-year-old Asuncion Dejesus-Garcia. Dejesus-Garcia was the primary suspect in a string of sexual assaults (see map) over the Lower East Side and East Village in recent weeks, but on Thursday, a woman was attacked under a similar MO - while Dejesus-Garcia was in jail. The victim was assaulted on East 16th Street after her attacker opened the door to her building for her. He then groped her and stole her purse.

The Manhattan DA's office announced that thirteen people were indicted in a identity theft scam. Credit card information from diners in Chinatown and other areas (Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island, Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Connecticut) would be stolen by wait staff, using handheld credit card skimmers. A list of restaurants where the scam took place was not released.

A woman who used to work as a secretary at a financial firm is suing her former boss for the unseemly tasks she was asked to do. How unseemly? Fatima Monahan claims she was appointed "pu--y coordinator" by boss Frederick Iseman of Caxton Iseman.

but can he still be found guilty of being really stupid?

The sex trial that almost had director Steven Soderbergh as a juror heard testimony from one of the prosecution's star witnesses. The Manhattan DA's office says that former Montessori school principal Lina Sinha had affairs with two very underage male students. One of the victims, now a 24-year-old police officer, testified that Sinha kissed him when he was upset after losing an academic competition in 1995. He was 13 at the time, while Sinha was 29; the officer testified, "I was very sad, and Lina kissed me on the mouth" in her school office.

The Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau announced that the NYPD shut down a sport betting and numbers ring in the Bronx, indicting 11 people, 3 of whom have links to the Lucchese and Genovese crime families. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly admited that "the size of this operation was not particularly significant" - it only generated $200,000 in yearly profits - but the gambling ring was run out of the Hunts Point market. And the ring was open to employees, customers "anyone who stopped by the Hunts Point Cooperative Market and the New York City Terminal Produce Cooperative Market in the Bronx," according to the NY Times.

The police say a police sergeant accidentally fired his gun at a Sunday party in an Upper East Side housing complex. Fifteen year old Luke Saintel had been shot in the leg by what police now say are "spent fragments" of a bullet that hit the floor. The police had arrived after someone complained about 60 people "spilling out" of an apartment, according to the NY Times:

...[A] preliminary analysis of the shooting, including an account by the sergeant’s supervisor, who was standing directly behind him during the encounter, found that the sergeant followed Mr. Saintel down a darkened hallway and drew his Glock service pistol — keeping it at his side with the barrel facing downward — only after he saw Mr. Saintel reach into his waistband as if about to draw a weapon, the police said.

Continue reading "Oops, Cop Shot His Gun"

the Kirbys had grown up in a Catskills cult, being "psychologically abused" in a "strange 'hyper-religious'" community. Joe Kirby was "kept him in line by doling out punishments like being locked in a closet or forced to stand naked in front of a group of adults." The Kirbys were put into foster care after they escaped, and they both fell into drugs, with Joe turning tricks to support his habit. An friend from upstate said, "She's not going to rob no bank. Every once in a while, she might go to Wal-Mart and 'pick up' a ChapStick, but she didn't have the mentality to rob a bank."

The Manhattan DA's office has announced they will charge Catherine Woods' yoga-instructing boyfriend with her murder. Paul Cortez, who was a person of interest when the young woman with dreams of being a dancer but the reality of being a stripper to make ends meet was found dead in her Upper East Side apartment after Thanksgiving, will be charged later this week. The prosecutors said they found a bloody fingerprint at the crime scene that matched Cortez. Cortez had made several phone calls to Woods prior to the murder, but then none afterward.

The Campaign Finance Board's records show that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has not reimbursed her government drivers for driving her to campaign events. Newsday points out that Fields hasn't "paid for gas or parking used during those appearances" and that in the past week, only two of her many events were job-related. Fields' campaign manager, Chung Seto, claims that the drivers/city will be reimbursed, but she doesn't know why it's taking so long. Just like she didn't know why the flyer was Photoshopped, eh? Actually, the practice of using a city government car for campaign events is common, as long as the city is reimbursed is common (City Council Speaker had his police detail drive him around). Congressman Anthony Weiner's campaign took the opportunity to say that while he has a congressional car, Weiner uses his own hybrid car to get to campaign events.