Crime Scene

I consider myself pretty bright when it comes to recognizing scams that people play on people. I cover crime, so presumably I’d be more aware than most. But yesterday, I myself was the sucker and ended up paying $75 to a man pretending to be a mechanic. I’m writing this so hopefully you don’t fall for this one too.
Here’s how it worked:
I was driving on the upper east side of Manhattan. Rounding a corner, some dude on the sidewalk shouted, ... Read more of this entry »

I have worked on two sad news stories in the past week. There was the plane crash last Wednesday that killed the pilot Gregory Doppke and his two passengers, Richard Lomas and Andrew Young, who were flying from White Plains to play golf in North Carolina. Then there was the death Sunday of Stuart Cohen, a beloved narcotics investigator who developed a mystery illness after raiding a heroin stash house.
There are always the questions that follow these sorts of unusual … Read more of this entry »

It has been a pleasure to come to the office these past two Mondays, check my voice messages and listen to callers yell at me for weekend stories I’ve written.
Last week, it was for the one in which Miracle Met Art Shamsky’s scorned wife “exposed” her estranged husband’s alleged mistress, a secretary from Rye. This past Saturday, it was the arrest of Rye High School’s star quarterback on charges he had 6 ounces of pot mailed to his home.
Boy, negative … Read more of this entry »

Jonathan Lovett is the sometimes crass lawyer representing Jacquelyn Byrnes in a federal lawsuit against Westchester County’s Department of Social Services and its commissioner Kevin Mahon. In my story tomorrow, he lashes out against the department, but we withheld his nastiest comment because this is a family newspaper.
So, here it is:
“In my opinion, Mahon must be a direct descendant of the banjo player in Deliverance. Actually, that’s a slur against the banjo player.”
For those who don’t know, Deliverance is the … Read more of this entry »

So this morning, I found myself at yet another accident scene, unable to look away from the body under the blanket. I have a gross job sometimes and, even though I rarely end up reporting the graphic details, I can’t help but take it all in. In this case, a man with crutches was run over by a water deliver truck. The tire apparently went over his head, and the blanket didn’t cover that part.
It’s a future nightmare for me … Read more of this entry »

A career criminal gave an unusual compliment to Westchester County police Lt. Maria Meliti Monday before being extradicted to Connecticut on a sexual assault charge.
“The man dealt with many of our officers over the weekend and said all the officers treated him nicely,” Meliti told me. “He said he’d been arrested many times over his lifetime and that ours was the nicest he ever dealt with. He said we treated him like a gentleman.”
Her response? “I told him I really … Read more of this entry »

This is one of those news items that doesn’t quite make the paper, but hey, anything goes in a blog….
The wife of rapper DMX, Tashera Simmons, was in Bedford Town Court Thursday night because her white pit bull was caught roaming free through the neighborhood. Apparently the dog has little respect for the law. This is the eighth time he’s been cited for flouting the town’s code requiring pets be contained. Simmons, whose husband has his own chronic legal troubles, ... Read more of this entry »