True Crime and News of the Weird from around the Globe

Long Island Grave Digger Dies After Being Buried Alive in Cemetery Mishap

By HardBoiledNews Staff

MOUNT SINAI, New York — A cemetery worker was killed when a grave he was digging collapsed on him, burying him under several feet of dirt, police said.

Rodwin Allicock, 42, of Coroam, was working at the bottom of a 7-foot-deep grave at Washington Memorial Park in Mount Sinai, N.Y., when the walls collapsed, Suffolk County police said.

Allicock’s co-workers raced to dig him out but were unable to reach him in time and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officials from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating.

Explosive to be Used for Gender Reveal Party Kills Dad-to-Be

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LIBERTY, New York — A 28-year-old dad-to-be was killed when an explosive device he and his brother were preparing for a gender reveal party detonated unexpectedly, police said.

Christopher Pekny was working on the device that was to announce that he and his girlfriend were having a boy, when it exploded in his garage in Liberty, N.Y., killing him and wounding his brother, Michael Pekny, 27, New York State police said.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.

Pekny’s death was the latest in a number of mishaps tied to explosives being used for gender reveal parties.

Explosive devices used at gender-reveal events have been linked to at least two deaths since 2019 and two major wildfires. 

A 26-year-old man died in Michigan this month after he was hit with shrapnel from “a small cannon type device” that exploded when it was fired in celebration at a baby shower, the authorities said.

New York Ice Cream Heist Leaves Thief Dangling in the Wind

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW YORK — This ice cream thief’s getaway was stopped cold.

Cops say a man who made off with at least eight pints of ice cream from a Manhattan store, ended up having to be rescued after getting caught clinging to the side of a building during his failed escape.

“After stealing 8 pints of Häagen-Dazs from a local business, this man’s getaway didn’t go as planned. We found him, rescued him & brought a safe conclusion to this precarious icecapade in #EastHarlem,” cops from the NYPD’s 23rd Precinct wrote on Twitter with a pic of the man dangling from a narrow ledge.

The wild chase began when police responded to a theft call from a CVS in Harlem. When officers arrived, they gave chase after a 30-year-old male who fit the description of the reported ice cream thief.

Police say that officers followed the man through the courtyard of a building where he hopped a fence that led to a long drop to an alleyway below. The man apparently tried to get down to the alleyway and got stuck on a small ledge, police said. The emergency services unit was called and the man was rescued and subsequently taken into custody.

According to cops, 10 cartons of Haagen-Dazs Ice Cream were recovered from the man’s backpack. He was identified as Anthony Pastore from Staten Island and he was charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

High-End Kicks Nabbed in Drug Raid to Hit the Auction Block

By HardBoiledNews Staff

ALBANY, New York — If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live in a drug kingpin’s shoes, now is your chance.

The New York State Office of General Services is auctioning off 188 pairs of high-priced, collectible sneakers and 14 pieces of sports memorabilia seized by the State Police in a drug bust on Long Island.

Many of the sneakers are Nike Air Jordans and LeBron James brands, as well as other rare shoes.

Authorities say the items were seized as part of an investigation into the distribution of illegal drugs on Long Island. The state regularly auctions off items either owned by the state, such as furniture and tools, or what it takes possession of in, say, a drug raid.

Other items from the raid include Upper Deck-authenticated Michael Jordan jerseys from the Bulls and the University of North Carolina. There are also items from athletes like Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Joe Torre,Mike Schmidt, Mark McGwire and Vinny Testaverde.

The state said that all items are being sold as is, and bidders are encouraged to inspect items for sale before bidding.

Two Upstate NY Teens Indicted for Murder of Bystander in Halloween Party Shooting

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Cheyenne Farewell

LOCKPORT, New York — A pair of teens from Upstate New York have been indicted on murder charges for firing through a garage door into a Halloween party, killing an innocent bystander and wounding five others, authorities said.

They are accused of firing eight rounds from a handgun through a metal door on the side of a garage at 43 S. Niagara St.

Cheyenne Farewell, 20, of Medina, died on her way to the hospital. Five others, ranging in age from 15 to 21, were wounded, two of them seriously.

Prosecutors say Farewell was not part of the dispute that allegedly led to the Oct. 17 shooting. “She was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Niagara County District Attorney Caroline Wojtaszek said.

The defendants, ages 16 and 17, pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Farewell’s family said she was a student at the College of Brockport and was working toward becoming a therapist.

“Her life’s work wanted to be reaching out to people that needed help,” her mother, Rochelle Horner told WIVB-TV.

“The one thing that she really wanted to do when she decided to switch her major to become a therapist was to work with inner city kids,” Horner told the outlet. “It always hurt her that – and she had a lot of friends that were in this boat, of not being able to afford a therapist. They’re expensive.”

Because the alleged gunmen aren’t adults, the court hasn’t released their names. Both defendants face two counts of second-degree murder; four counts of first-degree assault; five counts of second-degree assault; and one count of first-degree reckless endangerment.

The 17-year-old also was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, while the 16-year-old faces one count of the weapons charge.

Doreen M. Hoffmann, Niagara County first assistant district attorney, said the indictment includes two theories of murder: intentional killing and killing with “depraved indifference to human life.”

Horner said her daughter would have forgiven the suspects.

“I know right now she would not only forgive them. She’d be worried about if they’re doing okay, if they’re hurting, if they went through something as children that made them turn to this kind of life.”

Her mother says she, too, forgives the suspects.

“I’m in a place where I want to forgive them. I do forgive them. I’m at peace with that,” Horner said.

In early January, cops arrested 21-year-old Jonathan Frey, a level 3 sex offender from Lockport, and charged him with hindering prosecution for allegedly driving the shooters to and from the crime scene.

Sick Border Agent Charged With Pouring Urine on Boss’ Desk on Last Day on Job

By HardBoiledNews Staff

TONAWANDA, New York — He crossed some serious borders here.

A former Border Patrol agent has been hit with federal charges after allegedly spraying urine on his supervisor’s desk on his last day on the job at a station on the Canadian border.

Prosecutors say Eduardo Flores Jr. was caught on camera splashing urine all over Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Brandon Steele’s desk, chair, keyboard, clothing, books and personal items, including picture frames, in the cubicle at the station in Tonawanda on Aug. 24.

Flores retired from the Border Patrol four days later and the day of the alleged vandalism was  Flores’ last day in the office.   

Steele, upon returning to work after three days off, “noticed an unpleasant scent” at the cubicle, according to the criminal complaint.

Video surveillance footage showed that Flores “began to spray/pour a substance throughout the cubicle” and over the supervisory agent’s belongings and “continued this action for about one minute,” the complaint states.   

Authorities said it cost $458 for a cleaning company to sanitize the cubicle.

Flores was charged with destruction of property. He faces up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

Granddaughter Fatally Stabs Grandfather in Fight Over Lock

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Eric Chamber bled to death after Kimberly Roberts stabbed him in the chest

NEW YORK — A Bronx grandfather was fatally stabbed by his transgender step-granddaughter after they got into a fight over her removing the lock to the family apartment, police said.

Eric Chambers, 53, bled to death after Kimberly Roberts allegedly stabbed him in the chest and left arm in their Bronx apartment as the fight raged on. 

“It’s a nightmare,” Christina Chambers, who is the victim’s wife and the grandmother of the suspect, told the Daily News. “Why should my husband be 53 in his grave? What’s the sense of that?” 

Chambers said she and her husband took the 26-year-old Roberts in after she got kicked out of her home. She said she believes Roberts had been using drugs recently. 

“We usually all get along,” Chambers said. “I don’t know what was wrong with Kim. Kim for the last few months would come here screaming, hollering.”

Late Sunday, Christina Chambers discovered that the top lock to their apartment door had been removed. Roberts only had a key to the bottom lock so when she came home at odd hours she would have to knock to be let in waking the family’s dogs, said Chambers, who still refers to Roberts as he even though she is a transgender woman.

“I told him to bring the lock back so we could put it back on,” she said. “I wasn’t gonna do nothing to him — he is my first grandson.”

Roberts returned to the apartment angry.

“Eric asked him where’s our lock, so we can put it back on,” Chambers said. 

Chambers said Roberts responded, “Yeah, motherf—er, I took it off, what you gonna do?”

“Next thing you know, they were scuffling in the living room,” Chambers said. “I was coming down the hallway, I banged on my son’s door so he could break up the fight. He came out the room, he broke up the fight, and Kim left. My husband came to me, back to my room, and showed me the gashes on his arm and on his chest.”

Paramedics came and tried to stabilize her husband but by the time he got to Lincoln Hospital, he was dead.

“He lost a lot of blood in my room and all over the house,” she said. “I can’t believe my husband is just dead. It happened so quick.”

Roberts ran but came back after police arrived and Chambers called her.

“Kim answered the phone,” Chambers said. “I put him on speaker and I said, ‘You know something? You murdered your grandfather when you stabbed him.’ He started crying. And he said, ‘I’m on my way back to the house.’ And they arrested him.”

Police said they were questioning Roberts.

“I didn’t think he was coming to kill my husband and fight. Why, why would you do that?” Chamber said. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”

“I didn’t know he had a knife,” she added. “I mean really, you gonna do that to your grandfather, after we done raised you?”

Hungry Thieves Make Off With Brooklyn Restaurant’s Pasta

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW YORK —  Pasta la vista, baby.

A bolognese-loving burglar broke into a Brooklyn restaurant and made off with all its homemade pasta while leaving behind its pricey booze and kitchen equipment.

Workers at Borsalia — a recently opened eatery in Williamsburg — say the thief got inside the night of Christmas Eve by breaking the lock on a hatch on the sidewalk and then drilling a hole into the wall that separated the entrance from the kitchen.

Once inside, the thieves cleared out all 15 pounds of the restaurant’s pasta, which had been made the day before by the kitchen staff. The purloined pasta included ravioli, cappelletti, tagliatelle and gnocchi.

The haul was so unusual, that staffers didn’t even notice the pasta was gone until the cops arrived and were taking a close look around.

“We went downstairs and found this big hole in the wall…but everything in the restaurant was perfect,” Manager Cristiano Rossi told Patch. “When the police came we went into the kitchen and we opened the pasta storage — it was empty.”

He said that aside from the carbo-haul, the only other thing missing was about $40 from a tip jar

Rossi said cops fingerprinted the kitchen and collected camera footage from nearby businesses, but have not had any updates in the case since. He said Borsalia had not yet set up its own camera system since it opened only a month ago.

The heist left Borsalia’s kitchen crew working all day and night on Christmas to replace the pasta supply.

Rossi said the only reason he could imagine why someone would go to the trouble is because their pasta is so good.

“Our pasta is in high demand and is of the highest value,” he said.

NY Politician on the Lam for 23 Years is Found Limping Along Ohio Road Using Phony ID

By HardBoiledNews Staff

William L. Jones had been on the run for 23 years

WAVERLY, Ohio — A disgraced former politician from Upstate New York who had been a fugitive for decades after failing to appear at his sentencing for illegally selling guns, has been arrested after being found living under an assumed identity in Ohio, authorities said.

William L. Jones, the former supervisor of the town of Mentz, skipped town in 1997 after failing to appear at a sentencing hearing for his conviction for illegally selling guns. 

Jones, now 71,  was located after a police officer in Waverly, Ohio spotted him limping along a  road and took him to a local hospital, the Cayuga County Sheriff’s office said.

The officer grew suspicious when Jones was unable to produce any idea and after further questioning, determined he was William Jones, a wanted fugitive out of New York. 

The Cayuga Sheriff’s office said it appeared Jones had been living in Ohio for some time under a fake identity.

Jones was found guilty 23 years ago of illegally selling eight handguns after his pistol permit was suspended by a judge. He was free on $20,000 bail when he fled before sentencing.

Jones had been ordered to surrender the guns after being convicted the year before of official misconduct as town supervisor. But he instead sold the weapons. While awaiting trial in the earlier case, Jones also disappeared for nearly a month before surrendering to authorities.

His official misconduct conviction stemmed from his failure to pay two highway department workers in October 1996. He claimed at the time that paperwork had not been properly filled out by their boss. After his first conviction, Cayuga County Court Judge Peter Corning suspended Jones’ pistol permit. 

After selling the guns, Jones was convicted of criminal sale of a firearm, a felony punishable by up to a short state prison sentence. But while out on bail awaiting sentencing, Jones fled again.

He wouldn’t be found again until resurfacing by the side of the road in the middle of Ohio.

Tubby Terrorist Cut Loose Early from US Prison Due to COVID-19 Risk

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW YORK — An obese al-Qaeda terrorist convicted for the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa was sprung from prison early after a judge agreed his weight and age put him at heightened risk to die from coronavirus behind bars.

Adel Abdel Bary, 60, had spent 21 years in a New Jersey lockup for his role in the 1998 bombings that killed 224 people, but was let loose in early October, several weeks before his sentence was due to end..

“Defendant’s obesity and somewhat advanced age make COVID-19 significantly more risky to him than to the average person,” US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote in granting the release.

Bary had been set to be freed on Oct. 28, but his attorneys asked that he be let out sooner, citing their ­client’s age, girth and asthma.

“Mr. Bary’s continued incarceration now significantly increases his risk of infection, which could wreak disastrous health outcomes,” his lawyer wrote to the judge.

While prosecutors didn’t agree that Bary’s age made him more at risk to catch COVID-19, they did concede his 230-pound bulk did.

“The defendant’s obesity is an extraordinary and compelling reason that could justify a reduction of his sentence in light of the current pandemic,” they wrote.

Bary was set free on Oct. 9 and from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Wednesday and handed over to UK officials where he had received asylum years before his terrorism conviction.

He had been arrested in the UK in 1999 but fought extradition to the US and didn’t stand trial until 2012. He had been sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2015 but received credit for the years he spent behind bars in Britain.

Officials couldn’t send him back to his native Egypt after his release because he could be at risk of death or torture, the Sun reported.

“His return remains a huge headache for the [UK] home secretary” a source told the Sun.“She is intent on ridding the country of threats, but here’s a notorious terrorist dumped right on her doorstep.”

NY Doctor Pleads Guilty to Writing Opioid Prescriptions in Exchange for Sex

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Joseph Santiamo faces up to 20 years in the clink

TRENTON, New Jersey — A sicko New York doctor has pleaded guilty to writing prescriptions for addicts for powerful painkillers in exchange for sexual favors.

Joseph Santiamo, 65, a geriatric medicine specialist in Staten Island, admitted he handed out scripts for thousands of pills of oxycodone to young clients who were obviously struggling with addiction, federal prosecutors in New Jersey said.

“This defendant knowingly prescribed for his patients dangerous quantities of oxycodone, and even more egregiously, solicited sexual favors from certain patients who were struggling with substance abuse in exchange for writing them additional opioid prescriptions,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said.

 “Many of these patients were dealing with pain and addiction, and instead of getting help from their doctor, they were drawn deeper into the cycle of drug abuse. His admission of guilt today ensures that he will be appropriately punished for this behavior,” Carpenito added.

Santiamo admitted in court that from 2012 until 2018 he prescribed large quantities of oxycodone to patients without legitimate medical purpose. 

Prosecutors said that for a number of his patients, there was no medical necessity for Santiamo to treat them with oxycodone, nor to prescribe the large quantities that he did. Santiamo also solicited sexual favors from certain of his younger patients in exchange for oxycodone prescriptions. 

In some instances, Santiamo did this despite evidence that certain patients were abusing opioids, prosecutors said.

“The only difference between him and a person who deals drugs on the street is the white lab coat he wears,” said Susan Gibson, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division.

Santiamo faces up  to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine when he is sentenced in April.

N.Y. Charter Jet Company Owner Busted for Child Sex Trafficking

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Paul Alexander ran Central Jet Charter

NEW YORK — A creepy charter jet company owner who is a registered sex offender has been charged with trafficking underage girls as young as 12 for sex, prosecutors said.

Paul Alexander, 57, of the Bronx, was busted in a sting dubbed “Operation Mile High,” which drew its name from the fact that he is the chief executive of Central Jet Charter Inc., which provides private jets to wealthy travellers.

Alexander is a two-time felon with convictions for sex assault and child pornography.

Authorities caught on to Alexander in March, when an underage girl told cops that he had  sexually abused her and other underage girls, and pimped them out to other men, the New York attorney general’s office said.

After a months-long probe involving covert recording devices, social media, and undercover operations, investigators determined that Alexander was trafficking children across county lines for sex. 

The case was sealed when Alexander offered sex with a 12-year-old victim and a 14-year-old victim to an undercover officer for $300. Alexander encouraged the undercover officer to use alcohol and marijuana to make the victims more cooperative, prosecutors said.

Alexander, who was being held without bail, faces up to 50 years in prison—where he has served time several times over the years. He’s a Level 3 registered sex offender from a 1996 sexual assault conviction against a female of unknown age, and in 2o03 he was convicted of possession of an obscene performance by a child who was not a stranger to him.

The case marks the first time Attorney General Leticia James has charged a defendant with a newly enacted law that makes tit easier to prosectuor those who traffic children for sex.

“There is nothing more reprehensible than sexually exploiting a child,” James said.

Notorious Mob Killer ‘Gaspipe’ Casso Denied Compassionate Release for COVID-19

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Anthony ‘Gaspipe’ Casso was implicated in as many as three dozen gangland slayings

A notorious killer-turned-Mob rat will remain behind bars for the rest of his life because he remains a “danger to the community” even while hooked up to a ventilator due to COVID-19, a federal judge ruled.

Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso — whom the feds say took part in as many as three dozen Mob hits for the Lucchese crime family — contracted the coronavirus earlier this month at a maximum-security federal prison in Arizona, and has been clinging to life at a local hospital.

The 78-year-old mafia executioner turned rat himself after pleading guilty in a wide-ranging racketeering case in 1994, but the feds dropped him from the witness protection program after he broke a cooperation agreement several times. Casso was then sentenced to more than 400 years in prison.

His reign of terror as one of the mob’s most feared killers was so brutal that even the threat of imminent death from coronavirus doesn’t qualify Casso for compassionate release, Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederick Block ruled. 

“The court has carefully considered the gravity of defendant Antony Casso’s medical condition. But even assuming it presents an extraordinary and compelling circumstance, the court finds, in light of the nature and extent of the defendant’s criminal history, that he remains a danger to the community,” Block wrote.

Casso’s lawyers argued that he was already confined to a wheelchair, has prostate cancer, is awaiting a heart operation and had lung issues.

At the Tucson prison, 148 inmates have COVID-19 and two have already died of the disease. More than 400 other inmates have recovered, but it’s not clear Casso will rejoin them.

“Just days ago, he tested positive for COVID-19. He is currently hospitalized due to severe respiratory problems,” wrote Casso’s lawyers. “His COVID-19 infection and rapidly deteriorating health require better medical care than [Bureau of Prisons] can provide.”

Casso has been hospitalized and returned to the prison three times, but now remains in an emergency room hooked up to a ventilator, his lawyers said.

There was little sympathy for Casso at the courthouse, with the feds claiming that he unsuccessfully tried in the 1990s to have a federal judge and a prosecutor handling his case bumped off.

“All defendants sentenced to life in prison will, at some point, begin to succumb to one disease or another, or suffer from failing health due to old age,” wrote federal prosecutors in response to Casso’s application for release.

Tech-Savvy Samaritan Uses Drone to Help Family Find Pup Lost for 10 Days

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Debbie and Gary Morgan were overjoyed to be reunited with Meadow

CAIRO, New York — A lucky puppy that had been lost for over a week was reunited with its owners after a resourceful neighbor tracked her down in the woods by using a drone.

Brian James, of Cairo, New York spotted a notice online about one-year-old Meadow, a Golden Retriever who had disappeared in the woods in nearby Andes, New York. 

“I’m realizing that it might be easy to see her from the air if we find her before snow falls,” James, who is a licensed hiking guide and drone pilot, told ABC News.

So he drove a few miles to where Meadow was last spotted 10 days earlier and put his drone up into the air.

He quickly spotted a patch of white among the trees.

“I was able to get a visual on Meadow from the air,” he said.

He then rushed to the spot where he found the pup, who was uninjured, and reunited her with her family soon afterward.

Meadow’s family was overjoyed to have her back.

“We’re just so grateful for Brian for showing up when he did and being able to rescue her,” said Debbie Morgan. 

James says anybody can pitch in as needed.

“Everybody’s got the capability to help,” he said. “You never know what will come of it.”

New York Sex Club Busted for Violating Social Distancing Restrictions

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Authorities found three couples ignoring social distancing rule in flagrante in the club’s back room

NEW YORK — A Big Apple sex club was busted early Sunday for hosting an illegal party themed like a modern-day Roman orgy and flouting city-wide restrictions aimed at halting the spread of coronavirus.

After getting a 311 complaint, deputies from the city’s Sheriff’s Office found over 80 people without masks at the illicit underground club in Queens.

Partygoers were drinking and disregarding social distancing in a room that featured a buffet, boxes of condoms and a backroom lined with mattresses.

Officials say they found three couples having sex in the small backroom.

Signs inside advertised the location as a place where “wild ones cum to play,” with rooms for sex available to rent.

The orgy-like event was hosted by Caligula New York, a club that advertises itself as the “Hottest Swingers Club in New York.” Aside from lack of social distancing, the club didn’t have the proper licenses to sell alcohol, authorities said. Two party organizers were arrested and given desk appearance tickets that could lead to $15,000 in fines.

The club’s manager, Roy Bacoy, 37, of Woodside, was charged with violating emergency measures, running an unlicensed bottle club, unauthorized warehousing of alcohol and failure to protect health and safety.

The bust was the latest in a string of weekend raids by the Sheriff’s Office as secret nightspots continue to ignore coronavirus rules.

Last weekend, deputy sheriffs busted three parties attended by 600 revelers, including an underground fight club in the Bronx.

The Hunts Point fight night, dubbed the “Rumble in the Bronx,” was advertised on social media. When officials showed up, they found over 200 people watching amateur fights, smoking hookah, drinking, and partying without regard to social distancing and face mask guidelines.

Stolen ATM Found in Road After Breaking Free From Thief’s Car

By HardBoiledNews Staff

LAKE RONKONKOMA, New York — It was not the smoothest of getaways.

Bank robbers who tried to drive off with a bank ATM chained to the back of the car were forced to abandon the goods after the machine broke free in the middle of the road.

Police in Suffolk County, New York, say they received a call about a “transformer” laying in the middle of a road in Lake Ronkonkoma early Tuesday but were surprised to find an ATM instead.

The machine had been stolen from outside a nearby bank.

Police said the thief — or thieves — dragged the machine several blocks from a Capital One branch using a chain attached to a vehicle before the ATM became “dislodged” and ended up abandoned in the middle of the street.

Investigators say it did not appear the ATM had been broken into. Detectives were canvassing the area for witnesses and surveillance videos.

Illegal ‘Rumble in the Bronx’ Fight Club Busted for Not Social Distancing

By HardBoiledNews Staff

NEW YORK — The first rule about fight club is not to violate Covid restrictions.

An illegal New York fight club, known as the “Rumble in the Bronx,” was busted up when authorities found more than 200 people crammed into a warehouse and many not wearing masks.

The New York City Sheriff raided the Bronx club over the weekend and found drugs guns and booze being illegally sold in addition to the unlicensed combat. 

Ten organizers were arrested and hit with charges for breaking social-distancing orders, illegally warehousing alcohol and running an illegal fight club.

The fight club would have been illegal before the pandemic, but got caught up as New York officials crack down on large scale gatherings as the number of coronavirus cases in the city has been on the rise.

The state recently capped private indoor and outdoor gatherings statewide to 10 people, and gyms, bars and restaurants must close at 10 p.m.

‘Sociopath’ Bodybuilder Charged With Tossing Girlfriend Out of Sixth-Floor Window

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Shmuel Levine is accused of tossing gal pal Danielle Marrano out the window of her apartment

NEW YORK — A barbarous bodybuilder has been charged with brutally beating his girlfriend and then throwing her to her death out a six-story window.

Shmuel Levine, 34, was indicted Monday in the murder of 37-year-old Danielle Marrano a week after cops found her dying on the sidewalk outside her apartment in Queens, prosecutors said.

Friends who knew the pair, described Levine as a steely-eyed sociopath who showed little emotion.

“He seemed like a sociopath,” Joe Falcone, a friend of the victim since childhood told the Daily News. “He was a weird and cold person with no personality that I could put a finger on.”

Prosecutors say the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Levine spiralled out of control on Oct. 26, putting Marrano in a chokehold and pulling her hair so hard that clumps came out in his hands. He slammed her into her apartment’s walls and then allegedly threw her out the window.

Investigators initially believed she jumped to her death in a suicide bid, but later determined she had been thrown. Prosecutors said the dental hygienist had four fatal skull fractures, at least two of which were caused by Levine’s beating.

Marranos’s neighbors said she and Levine, whom she had dated for about five years, had a volatile relationship.

“They were always screaming all day,” said neighbor Phyllis Reggio. “The neighbors told us they always heard them fighting, all the time.”

Levine claimed to cops that the fatal argument started when Marrano told him she had cheated on him, according to court records.

Cop Charged With Making Illegal Guns for Outlaw Biker Gangs

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Gregg Marinelli is charged with making guns to sell to biker gangs

PLATTEKILL, New York — A New York police officer has been charged with manufacturing dozens of illegal handguns and assault rifles and selling them to outlaw motorcycle gang members, authorities said.

Gregg Marinelli, 38, who is a sergeant with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police, is accused of making the guns — including at least one fully automatic assault rifle — in his Plattekill home.

He then allegedly sold them to people who are legally barred from possessing weapons because they had felony convictions, such as members of outlaw motorcycle groups.

Marinelli is accused of using his marked police car to sometimes deliver the guns, which had no serial numbers, making them hard to trace.

Authorities say the investigation into Marinelli arose out of a recent drug trafficking case, dubbed “Operation Bread, White and Blues,” which looked as cocaine and pain pill trafficking by members and associates of self-professed “outlaw” motorcycle clubs. During that probe, investigators learned that Marinelli alerted a suspect that he was a target.

Investigators recovered numerous guns, gun parts and tools used to manufacture weapons at Marinelli’s home. State Police have also recovered 13 handguns and assault rifles from others which were manufactured and sold by Marinelli.

He faces a slew of charges including criminal sale and criminal possession of a firearm and hindering prosecution. He is being held on $600,000 bond.

Man Charged in Phony Abduction Ploy to Avoid Super Bowl Pool Payout

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Robert Brandel is accused of trying to take a punt on paying out on a Super Bowl pool he ran

NEWFANE, New York — Talk about a fumble!

An upstate New York man landed behind bars after staging his own abduction in an elaborate scheme to avoid paying out on a Super Bowl pool, police said.

Robert Brandel, 60, of North Tonawanda, was found tied up in the back seat of his Ford F-150 on Wednesday afternoon, the New York State police said.

Brandel claimed that he had picked up two men on Monday who had been involved in a Super Bowl pool he had run but one of them pulled out a gun and stole $16,000 in cash he had won from the game.

Cops say Brandel claimed the men made him drive around western New York for two days against his will before tying him up in the back seat of his truck and leaving him a supermarket parking lot near Niagara Falls.

But upon further investigation, detectives determined that Brandel had made up the elaborate tale and had created fictitious names to fill in the boxes in the $50,000 Super Bowl pool, with the hopes of pocketing the cash.

The gambit failed and he was left far short of being able to make the payouts, so turned to fabricating the abduction tale to explain why he didn’t have the money, cops said.

 

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine Faces Life For Alleged Role in Violent Street Gang

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The 22-year-old rapper has openly boasted in his songs about his gang connections

NEW YORK — Platinum-selling rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine has been charged with being part of a vicious street gang that pushed drugs and shot numerous people, including an innocent bystander at the Barclays Center earlier this year.

The 22-year-old rapper, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, was one of five alleged members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, a brutal Brooklyn street gang, charged in a federal racketeering indictment. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

At 6ix9ine’s arraignment, the judge deemed him a danger to the community and a flight risk and ordered him held without bail.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry B. Pitman noted that there was “troubling” evidence offered by prosecutors that showed that 6ix9ine directed or participated in multiple acts of violence over the last eight months.

“The defendant is quite violent,” prosecutor Michael Longyear said.

Longyear said 6ix9ine was captured on surveillance video sitting in a car and filming his co-defendants carry out a violent robbery against a rival gang member in Times Square.

6ix9ine also was caught on video boasting about shots recently fired by a co-defendant inside the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets, Longyear said.

The rapper’s lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, said his client had fired some of his co-defendants as part of his management and security team last week and was offered protection by federal agents on Saturday after some of them were overheard on wiretaps threatening his life. 6ix9ine refused the offer, Lazzaro said.

6ix9ine’s album “Day69: Graduation Day” was among the top records on iTunes following its February release. He is known for the multiplatinum hit “Fefe” with Nicki Minaj, which peaked at No. 3 on the pop charts, and “Stoopid,” featuring the incarcerated rapper Bobby Shmurda.

But 6ix9ine also has had a series of run-ins with law enforcement and has publicly identified himself as a member of the violent Bloods gang.

Prosecutors said the gang carried out acts of murder, robbery and narcotics trafficking in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn since at least 2013.

6ix9ine recently pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in Brooklyn in connection with a May traffic stop.

In a 2015 case in New York, 6ix9ine was sentenced to probation for his involvement in a sexually explicit video of a 13-year-old girl.

The video, posted on social media, showed the girl performing a sex act on another man while 6ix9ine “stands behind the child making a thrusting motion with his pelvis and smacking her on her buttocks,” according to court documents.

 

Runaway Elephant Leaves Cops With Big Rescue Job in Tiny New York Town

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Fritha the elephant just wanted to take a little midnight stroll

WESTTOWN, New York — An elephant never forgets … except maybe its way home.

Police in a small town outside of New York City were surprised to receive a call about a plodding pachyderm wandering around the streets late Sunday.

“Never a dull moment in Troop F,” the unit of the New York State Police posted on its Facebook page.

The elephant, a 46-year-old female named Fritha, had escaped from a nearby animal sanctuary where it has lived much of her life. The owners of the Sanctuary for Animals say Fritha hails from Vietnam and came to the U.S. after the Vietnamese War where she suffered burns from a napalm bomb.

The sanctuary says Fritha got away simply because an employee forgot to turn on the electric fence that keeps her in at night.

Other animals at the sanctuary include camels, zebras, horses and cows.

 

Uber Driver Charged in Death of ‘Car Surfing’ Teen Who Fell off Roof of Vehicle

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Ryan Mullen (l) died from head injuries after he fell from the roof of Danyal Cheema’s car

CENTRAL ISLIP, New York  — An Uber driver was charged with manslaughter for letting a teen “car surf” on the roof of his taxi from the boy fell and later died, authorities said.

Danyal Cheema, 24, was behind the wheel on Sept. 23, when 16-year-old Ryan Mullen and two pals — who had been out drinking at several parties — offered to pay him to let two of them ride atop his Toyota Highlander while the third boy filmed, prosecutors said.

Cheema agreed and Mullen and another boy climbed on the roof of the SUV while the third teen videotaped them on Snapchat, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said. As Cheema began driving, Mullen fell and struck his head on the pavement.

He sustained a fractured skull, but went home and died in his sleep later that morning.

“The defendant made a reckless decision and engaged in reckless conduct that caused the death of a young boy, and he will be held accountable,” Sini said, according to Newsday.

Under the law, second-degree manslaughter means disregarding an obvious risk and causing a death as a result of reckless conduct. Cheema faces 5 to 15 years in prison if found guilty. He pleaded not guilty.

Ryan’s mother, Janice Mullen, told WABC-TV: “There was an adult present, and the adult should have said, ‘No, that’s a bad decision. You’re not allowed to do that.’ ” Ryan’s father, Matthew, asked: “What if the driver was responsible enough to say no?”

Cheema’s attorney, Christopher Renfroe, said his client has expressed remorse for Mullen’s death and does not have a prior criminal record. A spokeswoman for Uber said the company is cooperating with the investigation.

NYC Dominatrix Bound, Beaten and Robbed of $4K in Sex Toys

By HardBoiledNews Staff

The thieves made off with the madam’s magic bag of sex toys

NEW YORK — That’s a lot of whips.

A crew of masked robbers bound and beat a dominatrix in a New York hotel room before making off with her cash and bag stuffed full of sex toys.

“They stole $4,000 worth of toys from me — the whole bag, all of the strap-on dildos, nipple clamps and leather harnesses,” 27-year-old madam, Barbara Schreiner, told the New York Post. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

Cops say Schreiner was waiting for a $2,500-an-hour customer at a Ramada Inn in Queens on Monday, when three men wearing masks barged in with guns drawn and ordered her to get down on the ground.

They then bound her hands with duct tape and kicked and punched her, leaving her with two black eyes.

They then pointed a gun at Schreiner— a former prostitute who now performs private sadomasochistic sessions — and demanded she give up the pin code for her debit card.

Then then took off and used her card five times.

Schreiner recently moved to the Big Apple from Niagara Falls, and said she typically meets with two or three clients per day.

“I deal with guys in power— judges, criminal lawyers, and doctors asking me to pee on them, f–k them with dildos all kinds of sick s–t,” she said. “But those a–holes took my toys and now I’m going to have two black eyes. I don’t know what I’m gonna tell my clients.”

She told the Post that she suspects the thugs were hired by her revenge-seeking former co-worker.

 

Worst Driving Instructor Ever Charged With Driving Drunk During Lesson

By HardBoiledNews Staff

Russell Cohen was a very bad driving instructor

RIDGE, New York — Do as I say, but definitely not as I do.

A Long Island driving instructor was arrested after his four teenage students called 911 after they grew nervous that he was driving drunk, police said.

Russell Cohen, who was working as a substitute teacher for the Suffolk Auto Driving School, was arrested after the students managed to get him to pull over at a McDonald’s at about 11 a.m., according to the Suffolk County Police Department.

The teens said Cohen had been behaving erratically and saying inappropriate things to the female students in the car, so they asked a restaurant employee to call 911, Newsday reported.

When the kids didn’t come out, Cohen sped off and  crashed into the rear end of another car less than an hour later, authorities said.

The 29-year-old driver of the other car was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Cohen, 58, was not hurt, but was charged with aggravated DWI and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

“I’m happy I’m alive,” said student Matt McGeough, 16, of Holbrook.