SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Source: Silvercore Training / Flickr

BETWEEN THE LINES: What we have in Congress — to paraphrase the iconic line from “Cool Hand Luke” — is a failure to legislate. That was quite evident last week after the Senate failed to expand existing gun laws without infringing on the Second Amendment. On top of everything else, because of undue filibustering rules, a 45 percent minority — too afraid to challenge the all-too potent National Rifle Association — defeated the will of the majority.

The American people — pardon the phrase — should be up in arms over legislation that would have strengthened and expanded background checks for gun sales.

With the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre still fresh in our minds, it was disgraceful, albeit not shocking, that nearly four dozen senators did nothing to assuage the painful memories of victims’ families or the overwhelming support of the American public in a clear cut triumph for the National Rifle Association.

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Dondre Samuel (Source: Facebook)

A 19-year-old Kingsborough Community College student was the lone survivor at the scene of an apparent double murder and suicide perpetrated by his mother, an NYPD officer,  in their Flatlands home yesterday.

Officer Rosette Samuel, a 13-year veteran of the NYPD who had never discharged her firearm in the line of duty, is believed to have fatally shot her boyfriend, their one-year-old son and then herself. A second son from a previous relationship, the 19-year-old student, fled out the back window when he was awoken by gunshots and called 911.

From the New York Post:

A cop who had worked with Samuel in the Manhattan traffic division before Samuel transferred to the 108th Precinct in Long Island City in January, said, “This is unbelievable.”

“She was tight with everyone here. It wasn’t her. Sometimes people snap,” that cop said. “Post-partum depression is the first thing that came to my mind. Didn’t show any signs of it.”

… The killings occurred just before 8:30 a.m. in Samuel’s first-floor apartment on E. 56th St. near Farragut Road in Flatlands.

Witnesses said they saw Samuel’s 19-year-old son Dondre Samuel, a biology student at Kingsborough Community College, frantically climbing out of the back window of that apartment wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt, just an Addidas jacket.

“He was shaken up,” said Anthony Beckford, 19. “My uncle asked what happened . . . he was all scraped up and he ran into the backyard. His elbows and his knees were scraped. He said, ‘Look, look!’”

“He was frantic. He couldn’t really talk,” Beckford said of Dondre, who is Samuel’s son from a prior relationship.

When Beckford looked at the front of the apartment, near the front door, he saw the body of Samuel’s boyfriend Peters, lying on the floor.

“I just the his head, and the top part of his body,” Beckford said. “He was facing down, surrounded by blood.”

Samuel’s body was found in bed, along with the one-year-old son.

Metro reports that a possible suicide note was found at the scene:

The source paraphrased Rosette Samuel’s note as saying, “Sorry I had to do this. I’m going to take Dylan with me because I can’t bear it alone,” referring to her 1-year-old son.

It also referenced a sum of money in a deferred compensation plan and specified it should be used for the college education of her other son, 19-year-old Dondre Samuel.

Cops reportedly found a sealed envelope as well. The contents are currently unknown.

Steven Koifman, one of the defendants (via Facebook)

Authorities unsealed charges against a Manhattan Beach man and six others last Thursday, claiming they conspired to commit securities fraud, but when the deal soured they turned on a co-conspirator and threatened to “put slugs into” him if he failed to come up with $350,000.

Alex Puzaitzer, 52, of Manhattan Beach, was one of the seven arrested in three states. The other defendants are Alexander Goldshmidt, 47, of New Jersey; Michael Vax, 54, of New Jersey; Paul Orena, 38, of New York; Yitz Grossman, 58, of New York; Efim Aksanov, 39, of Florida; and Steve Koifman, 41, of Florida.

According to authorities, the group operated what’s known as a “pump and dump” scheme, in which they acquired control of a large block of penny stock shares of Face Up Entertainment Group, a Valley Stream-based online gaming company that operates poker platforms and social media games. The alleged fraudsters inflated the prices and trading volumes of stock in the company, then sought to unload them on the public and reap hundreds of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten gains.

Investigators from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office wiretapped the group, capturing the defendants discussing ways to seize ownership of stock and then inflate the value through false press releases disseminated online. They coordinated trading to create an impression of high trading volume and attract unsuspecting investors.

However, their tactics failed, and they did not reap a profit, according to investigators.

As a result, the seven indicted members of the ring turned on an eighth co-conspirator, who then began cooperating with authorities. Several members of the ring, including Puzaitzer, allegedly met with the cooperating conspirator in Manhattan, demanding they pay him $350,000 and return his shares – or else Efim Aksanov, one of the Florida-based members of the ring, would “put slugs into” his chest.

The cooperating conspirator was allegedly harassed by the defendants in subsequent phone calls and meetings, and, during a meeting in March, Puzaitzer, Goldshmidt, Orena and Vax issued more threats to the conspirator and his family if he didn’t come up with the money.

All seven defendents are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue (Source: Google Maps)

UPDATE (1:00 p.m.): Kingsborough Community College just released the following statement, noting that it was a slashing, not a stabbing:

At approximately 10:45 a.m., an argument ensued between two Kingsborough Community College (KCC) students at Coney Island and Brighton Avenues as they waited for a bus to transport them to the college.  The argument continued and escalated after they boarded the bus.  One of the arguing students slashed the other with an instrument, causing superficial wounds.  The victim was taken to Lutheran Hospital for evaluation and the suspect fled and is being sought by police. We are awaiting a report on the medical status of the student taken to the hospital and a report from Police on the status of the search for the suspect.

UPDATE (12:01 p.m.): According to sources, the stabbing slashing is the result of an altercation between two Kingsborough Community College students. The students were either on or boarding a yellow school bus that serves as a shuttle to the school from the subway station. The bus is still on the scene. The victim has been transported to the hospital.

The suspect, described as a male in his mid-20s, 5’5″, wearing a black jacket and red hoodie, has not yet been apprehended, but sources say police know his identity and home address.

Original post:

We just received a note that a male was stabbed slashed in the neck twice, near the intersection of Coney Island Avenue and Brighton Beach Avenue.

The incident occurred at approximately 11:00 a.m. Police have established a crime scene, and EMS is requested to rush to the scene.

Calls over the scanner indicate the suspect may have fled westbound on the boardwalk.

This is a breaking news story and may contain inaccuracies. We will update it as more information becomes available. If anyone has more information or additional photos, please send them to tips (at) sheepsheadbites (dot) com.

Source: Facebook

Authorities have revealed the identity of the naked, burned body found on Gerritsen Beach’s shores Sunday morning as 14-year-old Shaniesha Forbes.

Forbes was reported missing on Friday, last seen at her Flatlands home on Avenue I at 8 a.m. Friday before leaving for school. Forbes was a freshman at Academy for Young Writers in East New York, according to her Facebook profile.

According to the Daily News, Forbes’ naked body was found partially burned next to the remains of a bonfire and some beer. The burns are not believed to be the cause of her death, as there was no smoke in her lungs and only her legs, arms and hands were burned.

Police have not yet ruled the death a homicide, and an autopsy was inconclusive. They have previously noted that there were no obvious signs of trauma, but are continuing to investigate.

Various reports say that Forbes had run away from home at least once before, and so police did not issue a public missing persons bulletin.

Photo: PIX11

Authorities rushed to a patch of shoreline near Gerritsen Avenue near Lois Avenue early Sunday morning, where a woman was found dead, naked and charred by fire.

Police say the victim was a young black woman in her late teens or early twenties, according to PIX11.

The body was found near the water in the nature preserve at approximately 7:15 a.m., and police were on scene for most of the day. In addition to homicide detectives, emergency services units and K-9 units were also active at the scene, and reportedly combed the shore.

Authorities had not yet identified the woman as of Sunday evening, and no identification was found near the remains.

According to the New York Post, “Parts of the victim’s body were burned, but there were no other obvious signs of trauma, and it did not appear the woman had been dead for long.”

Police are still investigating whether there was foul play. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

A Bushmaster AR-15, one of the three firearms the Newtown killer used to ambush his defenseless victims. Source: barryt83 / Flickr

BETWEEN THE LINES: When I wrote my first column about gun violence in the wake of the fatal Columbine shootings years ago, I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Similar incidents happened before and were likely to happen again. I’ve written seven since then. Here’s number eight.

By now, I thought, Congress would at least have set stricter federal standards to reduce the chance of it recurring. Sensible, necessary laws are passed to ensure public safety with speed limits, penalties to reduce drug and alcohol abuse, in addition to requiring licenses, registrations and, in most states, insurance for motor vehicles. But when it comes to guns, the attitude is far too restrained.

In and around the annual commemorations to the victims of 9/11, the inevitable question is: “Do we feel safer?” That query relates to potential terrorist attacks. However, after last week’s slaughter of 20 first graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that question is also pertinent to our glut of guns. Americans own an estimated 300,000,000 of them.

Are we any safer? When people are massacred in small town schools and movie theaters, is there any safe haven from potential tragedy?

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Source: dno1967b/Flickr

BETWEEN THE LINES: They didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Israel or any other Middle East nation, but I’m pretty sure citizens of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, anticipating the next wave of attacks, were thankful a truce was initiated last Wednesday to end the latest episode of bloodshed and bombs between Hamas and Israel.

I’m sure those people were also on the minds of many Americans as they sat down and sated themselves on our annual day of feasting.

No one can predict how long the cease-fire will last this time because Israel has been involved in one showdown or another, whether it’s labeled a war, battle, conflict or skirmish, since it became a nation. Despite lulls sprinkled in every few years, cynics know it won’t be too long before another flare-up is at hand in the world’s most unstable region.

Though it has been plagued by Arab bullies for 64 years, Israeli has defied, deterred and defeated its enemies time after time.

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Police caught an apparently drunk man after he allegedly slugged a cab driver on Sheepshead Bay Road this morning, taking him into custody for the assault.

According to witnesses at the scene of his arrest, the man was jaywalking across Sheepshead Bay Road near the subway station at approximately 2:40 p.m., when a livery cab came too close for his comfort. After a verbal dispute, the man began kicking and banging on the car, and eventually punched the driver in the face.

Several people said the man appeared to be walking unsteadily, and was acting as if he had been drinking alcohol.

After the assault, he took off on foot up Sheepshead Bay Road to Avenue Z, making it as far as Homecrest Avenue, where several marked and unmarked cop cars descended on him and took him into custody. The cab driver was brought to the scene of the arrest and was seen rubbing his face, and was being examined by emergency responders.

However, his injuries – if any – seemed minor.

Assembly candidate Russ Gallo points to turf tags allegedly made by Mexican-American gangs (Source: Gallo campaign)

Brighton Beach is seeing a startling rise in Mexican-American gangs, and locals say they’re “recruiting younger children, engaging in violent fights, extorting business owners, selling and buying illegal weapons, and creating small prostitution rings,” according to a recent news report.

Spanish-language newspaper El Diario La Prensa recently covered the rise in gang activity in an article later translated by CUNY Graduate School of Journalism’s Voices of New York project.

According to the report, Mexican-American gangs aren’t new in areas like Brighton Beach and Sunset Park, but activity has picked up and there are hints of a brewing turf war.

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