06
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES CREATION OF NEW ASSAULT
ON TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AGENT PROGRAM
NYPD COMMISSIONER RAYMOND W. KELLY, LOCAL 983 DC 37
AFSCME PRESIDENT MARK ROSENTHAL, AND CWA LOCAL 1182
PRESIDENT JAMES HUNTLEY APPLAUD PROGRAM
Brooklyn, March 25, 2009
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes announced
the creation of a new program to handle prosecution of
assaults against New York City Traffic Enforcement Agents.
He was joined in the announcement by NPYD Commissioner
Raymond W. Kelly, Mark Rosenthal, President of Local 983 DC
37 AFSCME, and James Huntley, President of CWA Local 1182.
“This program is essential, to ensure that
assaults on Traffic Enforcement Agents are prosecuted
swiftly, efficiently and to the fullest extent of the law,”
said District Attorney Hynes. “These officers help keep our
streets safe, and I applaud the State Legislature for
passing a new law last July, which made assaulting them a
felony.”
Police Commissioner Kelly said, “Traffic
Enforcement Agents perform valuable and essential services
for members of the public who often show little appreciation
or worse. I supported the law that made it a felony to
assault a traffic enforcement agent, and I applaud the
commitment by District Attorney Hynes to make its
enforcement a priority. The message is simple: assault a
traffic agent, go to jail.”
Local 983 DC 37 AFCME President Rosenthal said,
“Members of the public sometimes try to punish Traffic
Enforcement Agents for their own actions. Yet the Traffic
Enforcement Agents are just enforcing the law. Reacting in
anger against a Traffic Enforcement Agent is never
acceptable, and Local 983 of DC 37 thanks Brooklyn DA Hynes
for his commitment to aggressively enforce the new law
making an assault against a Traffic Enforcement Agent a more
serious crime.”
CWA Local 1182
President Huntley said, “District Attorney Charles Hynes has
always taken a leadership role in the enforcement of laws
that protect the public and ensure that our streets and
neighborhoods are safe. The members of CWA Local 1182,
traffic enforcement agents of New York City are grateful for
the support and cooperation received by the Brooklyn
District Attorney. District Attorney Hynes has consistently
taken a tough position when it comes to enforcing laws that
protect our traffic agents. Assaults on traffic agents in
Brooklyn are not tolerated and perpetrators are
prosecuted.”
The program is similar to the DA’s Office’s
Assault on Police Officer Program (APOP), but it has the
goal of protecting Traffic Enforcement Agents from random
attacks. Both programs consist of a team of prosecutors and
investigators who look into cases where an officer has been
seriously injured, shot at or attacked with a deadly weapon,
or if there is an attempted assault.
Assaulting a Traffic Agent is a Class-D Felony,
punishable by up to 7 years in prison.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
05
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF TWO TEENS
CHARGED WITH TORTURING AND KILLING A CAT
Brooklyn, March 18, 2009
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and Vice
President and Chief Legal Counsel of the ASPCA Humane Law
Enforcement Department Stacy Wolf today announced the
indictment of two men charged with breaking into a vacant
apartment and setting a cat on fire.
Charges against Angelo Monderoy, 18, and Matthew
Cooper, 17, include Arson in the Second Degree, Burglary in
the Second Degree, Aggravated Animal Cruelty and Animal
Cruelty. They face up to 25 years in prison, if convicted.
The defendants are charged with breaking into
Apt. 2I, 1933 Union Street., on or about October 7, 2008.
The indictment charges that the defendants brought the cat
into the apartment, held the cat down and poured charcoal
lighter fluid in it. They then set the animal on fire,
causing deep wounds and fourth-degree thermal burns. They
also caused damage to the apartment, which is in an occupied
building.
In the morning of October 7, the cat was found
outside crying, unable to move, but still alive. It was
taken to an animal hospital, where it was euthanized, due to
the severe burns it had suffered.
The ASPCA conducted an intensive investigation
that led to the apprehension of both defendants.
Cooper was also recently charged with Burglary
in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree, in an
unrelated incident, in the same building. In that case, he
and another defendant are charged with breaking into an
apartment and beating the tenant with a cane, while the
victim lay in bed, asleep, and then demanding money.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
District Attorney Josh Charlton, of the Trial Bureau Orange
Zone. Executive Assistant District Attorney Caryn Stepner is
Chief of the Orange Zone. Deputy District Attorney Carol
Moran is Chief of the Animal Cruelty Unit.
Contact: Orlando
Rivera
718-250-2300
04
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES CONVICTION IN MURDER OF
ONE POLICE OFFICER AND
ATTEMPTED MURDER OF ANOTHER
DEFENDANT FACES MANDATORY
LIFE SENTENCE
Brooklyn, March 16 2009
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the conviction of Lee Woods, the last of three
defendants charged with shooting Police Officers Russel
Timoshenko and Herman Yan, killing Timoshenko, in July
2007.
Woods, 31, was convicted of Aggravated Murder,
Aggravated Attempted Murder and Two Counts of Criminal
Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. When he is
sentenced, April 2, he faces a mandatory prison term of life
without parole.
In December 2008, co-defendant Dexter Bostic,
36, was convicted of the same charges – plus an additional
count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second
Degree – and co-defendant Robert Ellis, 35, was convicted of
three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon on the
Second Degree. In February Bostic was sentenced to life in
prison without parole, and Ellis was sentenced to 15 years.
In the early morning hours of July 9, 2007, at
the intersection of Rogers Avenue Lefferts Avenue, in Crown
Heights, Timoshenko and Yan pulled over the car the
defendants were driving. When the officers approached the
car both were shot, by guns fired from inside the vehicle.
Timoshenko was struck in the face and died several days
later. Yan was shot in the arm and recovered.
The case was prosecuted by Homicide Bureau Chief
Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi and Chief Counsel to the Homicide
Bureau Mark Hale. Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Taub is
Chief of the Homicide Bureau.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
03
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES
REAL ESTATE AND MORTGAGE FRAUD HOTLINE
Brooklyn, March 16, 2009
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the creation of a telephone hotline victims can
use to contact the District Attorney’s new Mortgage Fraud
Unit. The 12-person unit will investigate deed fraud,
mortgage fraud, predatory lending and other real
estate-related fraud.
The number is (718)250-2311.
District Attorney Hynes announced the creation
of the new Unit earlier this month, with US Senator Charles
E. Schumer.
Assistant District Attorney
Richard Farrell is Chief of the Mortgage Fraud Unit. Michael
Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
02
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES THIRD ANNUAL
EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN’S EVENT
31 BROOKLYN WOMEN HONORED FOR
THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND SERVICE TO THEIR COMMUNITIES
Brooklyn, March 16, 2009
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the recipients of his third annual Extraordinary
Women’s event. In honor of Women’s History Month, the 31
honorees were recognized for their accomplishments and their
service to the communities in which they serve. District
Attorney Hynes unveiled a huge calendar, in the lobby of 350
Jay Street, for the month of March with each day dedicated
to one of the extraordinary women who were nominated by
Brooklyn residents.
The women will be formally acknowledged at a
ceremony on March 25 in the Ceremonial Court Room at
Brooklyn Borough Hall.
District Attorney Hynes bestowed the title of
Special Ambassador to each of the women in their
communities. The women come from neighborhoods all
throughout Brooklyn. The honorees are all very diverse but
they have one thing in common. They make Brooklyn a better
place to live. This year’s honorees include educators,
executive directors, a police officer, a cancer program
coordinator, an economic development specialist, a civil
rights attorney, a community volunteer, a community
organizer, a managing editor of a newspaper, and a woman
whose life is dedicated to being a foster mother.
The 31 Extraordinary Women are: Tina Chen, Mazie
Henderson, Bronya Krishtul, Judy Willig, Joyce Bolden, Janet
General, Georganna Deas, Betty M. Cooney, Claudia Dozier,
Lorrie Ayers, Dr. Susan Fox, Khadijah Ali, Linda Blyer,
Farhat Affreedi, Joanne Smith, Diana Kleimenova, Mary Ann
Walsh, Margarita Rosa, Elizabeth Ou Yang, Rev. Monica
Sinclair, Officer Susan Porcello, Oresa L. Napper, Irene
LoRe, Joyce Mattera, Martha Kamber, Louise Hidar, Barbara
Snow, Charise Lawrence, Zoe Koutsoupakis, Zeinab Bader and
Bettina Miller.
Contact: Sandy
Silverstein
718-250-2300
01
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT IN BIAS
MURDER OF ECUADORIAN IMMIGRANT
Brooklyn, March 3, 2009
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
today announced the indictment of Keith Phoenix, 28, and
Hakim Scott, 25, in the murder of Ecuadorian immigrant José
Sucuzhanay, whom the defendants believed was homosexual.
District Attorney Hynes was joined in the
announcement, by New York City Council Speaker Christine C.
Quinn, Councilwoman Diana Reyna, Brooklyn Borough President
Marty Markowitz, First Deputy Commissioner of the New York
State Division of Human Rights Luis Burgos, relatives of the
victim, and members of Brooklyn’s LGBT and Hispanic
communities.
The top charge against Scott and Phoenix is
Murder in the Second Degree as a Hate Crime, which carries a
maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
The indictment charges that, at about 3:25 a.m.,
on Dec. 7, 2008, Sucuzhanay and his brother, Romel, were
walking home in Bushwick, at the corner of Kossuth Place and
Bushwick Avenue, when they walked past a car driven by
Phoenix and in which Scott was a passenger. The defendants
saw the Sucuzhanay brothers walking arm-in-arm, and mistook
them for homosexuals. They then attacked the victims
brandishing a glass bottle and a baseball bat. The
defendants are also charged with shouting anti-gay and
anti-Hispanic insults prior to the attack. Romel was able to
run to safety, but Jose was beaten repeatedly with a
baseball bat, while he lay in the street.
José Sucuzhanay suffered skull fractures and
brain injuries, and he died a few days later.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and
not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by Rackets Division
Bureau Chief Patricia McNeill, Deputy Bureau Chief Josh
Hanshaft and Assistant District Attorney Lauren Hersh.
Charles Guria is Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau. Michael
Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
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