Crime Scene » Shawn Cohen

Watch out for streetside mechanics

Shawn Cohen — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:11:54 +0000

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, “hey, your car is smoking.” Another guy nearby shouted the same thing, and recommended I pull over. I did. That guy, wearing a mechanic’s outfit, offered to check out my car, told me to the pop the hood. I did.
He then took a looksy at the engine and said, “you must have been hitting a lot of potholes lately.” He explained that my “pins” were locked and that this was causing my car to smoke. If I continued to drive, he said, I could do serious damage to the car.
So at this point, I was thinking I’d have to have my car towed to a mechanic and pay who knows how much money to get the car fixed.
But this guy convinced me this was my lucky day. He said he could fix it himself on the spot, that it was an easy problem to fix. He told me to buy a gallon of water to use as coolant. I did. When I returned, he showed my a puddle of antifreeze forming under my car, saying this was the result of my “pins” being locked. (He undoubtedly made that happen while I was in the store). Then he showed me the engine and said some gibberish that I didn’t understand, something about my O2 sensor not working and how this would prevent me from knowing when myÃ‚Â car overheats.
At the same time, he was on the phone with his “boss” who was giving him information about my Nissan, he said, to help him make the repair and know what the repair would cost.
As he “worked” on my car, he had me turn on the AC to high so, he said, the engine would stay cool. (I only later learned that that you’re actually supposed to turn on the heat in that situation). He also had me rev the engine (to keep me from looking at him as he did nothing.)
When he was done, he asked for $150. Being cheap, I talked him down to $75. Then he walked away.
That’s when I had my realization that I’d been had. Perhaps it was the fact I never actually did see the smoke. So yes, I got taught a $75 lesson. Don’t let it happen to you.

A day for mourning

Shawn Cohen — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:38:20 +0000

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 tragedies. Why did the plane crash, and what exactly caused Cohen’s death? People draw conclusions, speculate, and we report it.
But I am taking a break from the “news” for at least a day because tomorrow, Wednesday, will be a day of mourning.
Thousands of fellow officers, firefighters and others are expected to attend Cohen’s funeral, which will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 21 W. Broad St., Mount Vernon.
Then, there will be a joint wake for Doppke and Lomas, who were best friends and business partners. It will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. at Castiglione Funeral Home, 134 Hamilton Ave., in Greenwich, Conn.

I didn’t know these men, but from what I gathered from speaking with relatives and friends, they were all noble in their own way.

What stuck with me most regarding Greg Doppke was how his daughter described dancing with him at her wedding, how he chose the song “Butterfly Kisses” and cried the whole way through because he truly loved his daughter.

For Richard Lomas, it was how his brother-in-law described his last days with him. The brother-in-law was supposed to be on the fatal flight, he said. But Richard, knowing the plane would be loaded down with golf clubs, paid for him to take a more comfortable commercial flight so they could meet in North Carolina. He cried as he described how Richard would do anything for anybody, and never ask for anything in return.

For Stuart Cohen, I spoke to the mother of a boy who had taken karate classes with him. Stuart would give him hats and jackets from his jobs in law enforcement. That boy grew up to an NYC police officer, the mother said, in part because he wanted to be like Stu, who touched so many people through his spirited efforts not just as an officer, but also as a volunteer firefighter and karate teacher.

People from various walks of life, all touched by these men,Ã‚Â will gather Wednesday to remember them. One friend of Stuart’s told me earlier today, when I asked about the cause of death, that I should not focus on that now, not with the funeral one day away. Now should be solely about Stuart and his family and friends, he said. I agree, it should be about Stuart. And Richard and Gregory.

Sticks and stones

Shawn Cohen — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 17:57:09 +0000

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 stories involving Rye don’t sit too well, do they?
Both stories touched a nerve. For the Shamsky story, most people were angry that we took on a tabloid-esque story and had the gall to name the alleged mistress.
For the pot arrest, people were upset that we named the 17-year-old athlete.
I got a particular kick out of a couple youngsters, perhaps acquaintances of the accused, who left anonymous messages cussing me out. One, after calling me a certain F word, forgot to hang up after his message and could be heard talking to others in the background worrying that The Journal News could trace the call and get them in trouble. Hmm. That’s a good idea.

The insult that didn’t get in the paper

Shawn Cohen — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 23:01:50 +0000

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 1972 film that stars a young Burt Reynolds, taking a canoe trip through the Appalachians with friends. They encounter sexually sadistic mountain men and a mentally-challenged boy who plays banjo. Yikes.

The unmentionables

Shawn Cohen — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 20:03:04 +0000

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 and the dozens of other people who witnessed it, none moreso than the man’s father, who was drinking coffee next door when his son was killed.
I recognize the need not to share the gory details, but trust me, as a crime reporter, these are the sights that stick with me and make the news all too real.

Thank you, I think.

Shawn Cohen — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 16:51:13 +0000

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 heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢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 appreciated that, that that was really nice to hear, and that IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d pass it along to the officers.”
Once she learned I was going to blog on this, she told me she didn’t want to take the credit, as nice as she is. It was Officer Robert Kelly who made the arrest, she noted. “He should really get the credit for this, not me, because he was the one the guy raved about.”

Bad Dog!

Shawn Cohen — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:30:24 +0000

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, paid the $250 fine last night for the animal’s latest offense last weekend. Police were called after the canine showed up at a house on, where else, Barker Street.