Queens Tot Stable After Van Hits Him
By Nick Hirshon and Ethan Rouen – Daily News Writers
Thursday, July 3rd 2008, 9:04 PM
A 2-year-old boy suffered a broken arm Thursday when he darted into traffic in Queens and was struck by a minivan, police and witnesses said.
The child lost consciousness as he lay in the street outside his aunt's home in South Ozone Park, witnesses said.
"His body was lifeless," said Shauna Brown, 37, who helped revive the child. "The aunt was just screaming, 'Help us! help us!'"
The boy, whose name was not released, was playing in the front yard about 3:40 p.m. when his aunt lost sight of him and he made a dash for the street, witnesses said.
He was taken to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition, but his status was quickly upgraded to stable.
The driver of the minivan, a pregnant woman, 35, cried hysterically at the scene, witnesses said. She was taken to New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens for observation.
She was not charged with a crime.
Queens Shooting Victim Critical
By Jonathan Lemire - Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, July 4th 2008, 9:11 PM
A 25-year-old man was clinging to life after he was shot in the face early Friday morning on a desolate Queens street, police said.
A 911 caller told police that a man had been shot at the corner of 144th St. and Sutter Ave. in South Ozone Park just after 4:30 a.m., police said.
When cops arrived, they found the victim sprawled on the sidewalk in a pool of blood. The man, whose name has not been released, was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital where he was in critical condition, police said.
No witnesses to the shooting have come forward and no arrests have been made, police said.
Car Crash Kills Two in Queens
By Paul McNamara, Jonathan Lemire and Dorian Block - Daily News Writers
Saturday, July 5th 2008, 10:21 PM
A drunken driver killed two of his passengers when he barreled into the front of a Queens carpet store early , cops said.
Stephen Bush, 28, of Far Rockaway, was racing east on Rockaway Blvd. near Brookville Blvd. in Rosedale when he lost control of his 2005 gray Cadillac sedan, police said.
The car careened over the curb and slammed into the building at 3:30 a.m.
Ambulances arrived within moments and took the car's four occupants to local hospitals.
The dead were identified as Garfield Nelson, 33, and Wayne Burnette, 29, both of Far Rockaway. A third passenger, a 27-year-old man, was treated for minor injuries.
Bush was the only person in the car who was not injured. He was arrested at the scene and later charged with first-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and driving while impaired.
Dozens of Nelson's relatives and friends gathered outside his home to comfort his distraught mother, Joan Hayles Nelson.
She described her son, one of her four children, as a devoted father to his 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. He worked as a plumber.
"He was just a very nice boy. Very helpful. A great son," she said through tears. "He loved his family. We're all very close."
She said she did not know the other people in the car.
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Queens Drowming Victim, 8, Son of Cop
Satuday July 5th 2008, 3:22 PM
Pool at 136th St. home in Queensboro Hill is where Justine Almonte drowned during backyard Fourth of July barbecue. The 8-year-old is stepson of an NYPD officer.Photo DelMundo for News
Pool at 136th St. home in Queensboro Hill is where Justine Almonte drowned during backyard Fourth of July barbecue. The 8-year-old is stepson of an NYPD officer.
An 8-year-old Queens boy who drowned in a backyard pool at a Fourth of July barbecue was identified as Justine Almonte.
A police source told the Daily News the boy is the stepson of a cop.
Justine had been the only child at a gathering on 136th St. in Queensboro Hill when he may have suffered a seizure while swimming in the inground pool about 7 p.m. Friday.
He was pronounced dead at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens. Autopsy results are pending.
Neighbor Rodrigo Acosta, 63, said he saw paramedics rush the child out on a stretcher, working feverishly to revive him.
"They were working very hard," Rodrigo said of the emergency workers.
An NYPD spokesman released the victim's name, but refused to release his address because they said he is the relative of cop. The NYPD routinely releases the names and addresses of fatalities in the city.
Justine was the third drowning victim during the holiday week.
Jennasia Dominick, 2, died at her family's Central Islip, L.I., home Wednesday after she climbed into the pool while her mother made lunch and her father slept.
On Thursday, Syosset, L.I., nanny Ana Maria Montaño de Gimenez, 48, drowned while trying to save her 3-year-old charge who had jumped into his backyard pool. The boy survived.
With pool season in full swing, experts said simple measures can save lives. Among the recommendations:
• Never leave a child unsupervised around water.
• Install fencing around pools and spas. Fencing should be at least 5 feet high and include self-latching gates.
• Learn CPR and first aid.
• Keep rescue equipment and a cordless or cellular telephone on hand at all times.
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NYPD Police Blotter – NY Post - Queens
By Tatiana Deligiannakis and John Doyle – NY Post
Posted: 3:10 am July 5, 2008
Randel Heyliger, 24, was busted on June 29 after agents inspecting his bag discovered a .40-caliber pistol along with 40 rounds of ammunition, cops said.
He was not licensed to carry the weapon, sources said.
Heyliger, of Vista, Calif., was arrested by Port Authority cops and charged with weapon possession, authorities said.
A 25-year-old man was clinging to life yesterday after a shooting in South Ozone Park.
Cops responding to a 911 call reporting gunfire shortly before 5 a.m Thursday on 144th Street near Sutter Avenue found the unidentified man, who had been shot once in the face, police said.
He was rushed to Mary Immaculate Hospital in critical condition.
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An unlicensed cabdriver was busted at JFK after he dragged two passengers 100 feet as he tried to escape cops, authorities said.
The passengers, two young men from Israel, were about to get into Kerel Klankford's car on June 28 when cops approached the driver.
He immediately took off as the victims clung to the back doors, and dragged them on the ground, authorities said.
Klankford, 27, sped toward an exit blocked by construction barricades.
He tried reversing out of the blocked area, then got out and ran off.
Cops caught up with him moments later and charged him with reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, criminal trespass and unlawful solicitation of ground transportation services.
The two men declined medical attention.
Police stopped a Long Island man at the Queens Midtown Tunnel for driving with a cracked windshield and without license plates and also found that his driver's license had been suspended eight times, authorities said.
Marcello Mastroianni, 37, was in a 1996 Mercury Villager last Sunday near the tunnel entrance when cops pulled him over.
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A Queens driver has been arrested on vehicular manslaughter charges after crashing into a storefront, killing two of his passengers.
Police say the 28-year-old was arrested Saturday on charges that also include drunken driving.
A 29-year-old man and a 33-year-old man died in the 3:30 a.m. wreck on Rockaway Boulevard. A third passenger suffered minor injuries.
Police say the driver was unhurt. He has no listed phone number, and it is unclear whether he has a lawyer.
