Latest news with #BrooklynCriminalCourt
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man wanted in fatal stabbing in clash over Brooklyn MTA bus seat surrenders
The man wanted for fatally stabbing a 41-year-old straphanger on a Brooklyn MTA shuttle bus during an argument over a seat surrendered to authorities and has been charged with murder, police said Wednesday. Kareem McCalla, 36, turned himself in on Tuesday for the Sunday afternoon knifing on a J90 shuttle bus near Crescent and Etna Sts. in Cypress Hills, cops said. Police charged McCalla with murder and weapons possession. His arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending. McCalla, who lives in Richmond Hill, Queens, was on the bus when he got into an argument over a seat with victim Alvin Francis, according to cops. During the dispute, McCalla pulled a knife and fatally stabbed the father of three in the abdomen. '[Cops] just said he got into a tussle on the bus,' the victim's wife, Candice Todman-Francis, 36, told the Daily News. 'It's under investigation. I have not one detail. I'm just as lost as everybody else.' Surveillance video recovered from inside the bus shows McCalla coming onto the bus from the rear door. Francis entered through the same door moments later and sat down next to his killer. After a few minutes, McCalla stood up and Francis threw a punch at him, according to the source. Both men continued to fight, with the killer going on to stab Francis as the clash escalated. McCalla fled the bus and remained on the run for two days before his surrender. Francis was working on Sunday to earn some extra cash for his son's middle school graduation. The shuttle bus runs on the weekend while the J train is out of service. Todman-Francis spoke to her husband earlier in the day, and the two discussed what they would have for dinner on Mother's Day. 'See you when I get home,' Francis told his wife, who quickly became worried when he didn't show up. 'I hadn't heard from him, so I tracked his phone and I saw him at the precinct. So I called the precinct,' she said, explaining she was worried he'd been arrested. Officers showed up on her doorstep not long after to deliver the tragic news. Francis worked as a roofer and his job took him to multiple locations. 'He's a hardworking man,' his wife said. 'Work and home — literally, work and home and his favorite place is Home Depot.' The two had been together for 21 years, got married five years ago and were planning a vow renewal ceremony for August. They have three sons together. 'Everybody's saddened by it,' a neighbor of the victim in South Jamaica, Queens, said. 'He was a neighborhood guy. Family man. Hardworking.' 'We're just still processing it,' he added. 'It's tough.'
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Former NYPD officer accused of bribery scheme
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) – A former NYPD officer has been charged in an alleged bribery scheme involving unauthorized searches at criminal court. The information obtained in searches by 54-year-old Richard Arce included confidential reports and warrants, which were exchanged for monetary payments, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Wednesday. More Local News 'This defendant allegedly betrayed his badge when he provided confidential information to people accused of crimes,' Gonzalez said. 'This was a shocking abuse of the trust he was granted and an example of corruption that could have led to serious public safety consequences. We have now indicted him and his alleged bribery partner and will work to hold them responsible.' According to an investigation, Arce was assigned to Brooklyn Criminal Court from March 2021 to February 2023. Arce conducted unauthorized searches for law enforcement information at the request of multiple accomplices, receiving $40 to $50 per search, according to court records. Officials say over 70 unauthorized searches for Raymond Ramos, Alexander Torres, Jesus Cedeno and others were conducted. The searches focused on arrest warrants, police reports and license plates for vehicles owned or operated by Ramos, who has been accused of at least one burglary, records show. Arce conducted these inquiries even though NYPD officers are only permitted to search databases for official business. Arce also allegedly used his NYPD-issued cell phone to transmit the information through text messages, according to officials. In one case, two screenshots obtained by authorities show an accomplice had an active bench warrant from the Bronx. The next day, Arce texted, 'Don't forget the $25 cuz.' Other screenshots obtained by authorities show messages sent about Torres, which indicated he had two suspect warrants. The next day, another person asked Arce for information, to which Arce replied, 'Nope. No $ [money]. No, Honey.' Arce was charged on a 114-count indictment that includes third-degree bribery, conspiracy, unauthorized use of a computer, and official misconduct. Matthew Euzarraga is a multimedia journalist from El Paso, Texas. He has covered local news and LGBTQIA topics in the New York City Metro area since 2021. He joined the PIX11 Digital team in 2023. You can see more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Yahoo
Miriam Yarimi, driver accused of killing Brooklyn mom and two kids, set to make first in-person court appearance
Wigmaking social media influencer Miriam Yarimi is expected to make her first in-person appearance in court Wednesday after police say she mowed down a mother and her two young children in a Brooklyn crosswalk. Yarimi told cops she had the 'devil in my eyes' when she slammed into Natasha Saada, 35, and her three young children as they crossed Ocean Parkway March 29. Saada died of her injuries, as did her two daughters, Deborah, 5, and Diana, 8. Saada's 4-year-old son was critically hurt. Yarimi appeared virtually in Brooklyn Criminal Court April 3 via a video stream from her hospital room at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where she was being held for psychological evaluation. She's expected to appear Wednesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun Wednesday after her indictment on manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and other charges. Yarimi had a suspended license when she got behind the wheel of her car, an Audi A3 with a vanity plate reading 'WIGM8KER,' a reference to her wig making business, the afternoon of March 29, cops said. She was going north on Ocean Parkway, driving twice the speed limit, police sources said, when she sped through a red light, crashed into a Toyota Camry Uber and hit Saada, 35, and children. Yarimi's car flipped upside down in the crash. 'The devil is in my eyes. I am haunted inside. I didn't kill anyone. I didn't hurt anyone. Prove it. Show me the proof. You have no proof,' she told police after the crash, according to filings by prosecutors. 'I was raped by cops when I was 14. I need CT scans in my eyes. I need to get the scanning done now …. Where's my daughter? My daughter's always in my heart… . I need to use the bathroom. I don't want to pee in the pan.' Her remarks about being raped by cops refers to her allegations in a 2023 lawsuit that an NYPD officer groomed and raped her throughout her teenage years after she was arrested for shoplifting. The city settled her suit for $2 million in December.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Yahoo
Ex-NYPD cop took bribes to help burglary crew get info from databases: DA
A retired NYPD cop took bribes to search police databases when he was on the force, feeding his criminal cousin info to help members of a burglary ring, prosecutors said Monday. Richard Arce, 54 sold his police shield for cheap, typically taking $40 to $50 for each search, according to Brooklyn prosecutors. He fed his cousin arrest warrant info and police reports, and ran license plates, conducting more than 70 searches from 2021 to 2023, often texting his cousin while on the job assigned to Brooklyn Criminal Court on Schermerhorn St., prosecutors said. On Monday, Arce was hit with a 114-count indictment in Brooklyn Supreme Court charging him with bribe receiving, conspiracy, unauthorized use of a computer, and official misconduct. His cousin, Raymond Ramos, 42, of the Bronx, was charged in January. 'This defendant allegedly betrayed his badge when he provided confidential information to people accused of crimes,' Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez said Monday. 'This was a shocking abuse of the trust he was granted and an example of corruption that could have led to serious public safety consequences.' Arce, who's lived in the Dominican Republic since his retirement in 2023, was arrested by local authorities in the country in January after he tried to renew his passport. He appeared in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday. Arce, who joined the NYPD in 2008, conducted the searches for Ramos, as well as for Alexander 'Chaco' Torres and Jesus 'Capone' Cedeno — who were charged in March 2023 with conspiring to break into stores and steal ATMs. Starting in March 2021, Arce accessed the NYPD's 'Domain Awareness System' looking for information at Ramos' request, prosecutors allege. He looked for 'i-cards' that would show whether Ramos and his pals were wanted for questioning, and looked for active warrants, according to the indictment. And he made sure he got paid, prosecutors allege. On Oct. 23, 2022, he sent Ramos two screenshots while on duty, one of which showed Ramos had an active bench warrant from the Bronx, according to the indictment. The next day, he followed up with another text, 'Don't forget the $25 cuz.' And on Nov. 1, 2022, he sent along information showing Torres had two warrants out on him, and when Ramos asked him a day later to search Cedeno, the cop replied. 'Nope. No $. No Honey. So far I've received $0.' After Ramos promised to pay, Arce texted, 'If Cedeno pays I'll check. No freebies, according to the indictment.' Torres and Cedeno have since pleaded guilty in the ATM burglary case and are awaiting sentencing. Arce was arraigned before Judge Archana Rao Monday, pleaded not guilty and was released without bail. He and Ramos will appear together before Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun on May 7. Neither he nor his defense lawyer, Peter Guadagnino, commented as they left the courtroom.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Yahoo
Brooklyn woman arrested after allegedly leaving brick with swastika on Cybertruck in Jewish NYC nabe: NYPD
A Brooklyn woman was arrested on hate crime charges for allegedly leaving a brick scrawled with a swastika and the word 'Nazi' on a parked Tesla in a Jewish enclave this week. Natasha Cohen was accused of writing the hateful symbol in chalk on the brick, and leaving it on the bumper of a Cybertruck parked in front of a yeshiva on Ditmas Avenue near Ocean Parkway in Kensington just after 8 p.m. Monday, according to police and photos. The car's 38-year-old owner called 911 when he spotted the brick, as well as a full, black trash bag and other garbage that the suspect had dumped on the vehicle, police said. In a video released by the NYPD, a woman in a pink hooded jacket, blue jeans and black rainboots can be seen throwing items on the silver Cybertruck before taking off on a scooter. Detectives from NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force nabbed Cohen, 46 – who lives in an apartment just around the block from where the vehicle was vandalized – just before 3 p.m. Thursday, and slapped her with charges of aggravated harassment and criminal mischief as hate crimes. Her arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending Saturday. Cohen's alleged crimes are the latest in a spate of attacks targeting Tesla owners and dealerships across the country, in protest of CEO Elon Musk's controversial role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency within the Trump Administration. On March 27, two vandals were caught on video brazenly carving a swastika and the word 'Nazis' on the side of a Cybertruck parked on Monroe Street in Bed-Stuy. The vehicle's camera captured one of the suspects crouching down to etch the fate-filled messages onto the car as his accomplice calmly stood by, cops said. No arrests have been made in that incident.
