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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAY. From Roving Photographer, Stephen Sisler. June 3, 2012:
After a dismal night of heavy rain and drizzly morning, miraculously skies cleared at 10 A.M. Saturday morning, in time for the sun to shine on the White Plains Outdoor Arts Festival in Tibbets Park. Here are some views from the Sisler “Eye on White Plains”:
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WPCNR Report from the Westchester County District Attorney. June 1, 2012:
Janet DiFiore, Westchester County D.A., announced today that Eugene Lorino (DOB
· one count of Robbery in the First Degree, a class “B” Violent Felony,
· two counts of Burglary in the First Degree, class “B” Violent Felonies,
· one count of Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, a class “B” Felony,
· two counts of Burglary in the Second Degree, class “C” Felonies,
· one count of Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, a class “C” Felony,
· one count of Attempted Robbery in the Second Degree, a class “D” Felony,
· one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony,
· one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony,
· one count of Criminal Impersonation in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony.
On
The defendants believed that the victim had a large sum of United States Currency on the premises because of a potential business transaction in the
After demanding the money, they went to a second apartment in the building where they tied up the victim and his family.
The defendants then attempted to gain access to a safe on the premises. Not being able to, they took approximately $7,000 in cash that was on hand and fled.
A four month long investigation ensued, lead by the Hastings-on-Hudson Police Department, assisted by investigators and prosecutors from the Organized Crime and Criminal Enterprise Bureau, Superior Court Trial Division of the District Attorney’s Office, the Westchester Intelligence Center and the NYPD.
Information was developed as to the movements and whereabouts of the defendants that ultimately lead to these individuals being taken into custody earlier this month.
“The investigation into this home invasion exemplifies how law enforcement in
Bail was set at for $500,000 cash/bond for Vale, $750,000 cash/bond for
Their next court date is scheduled for
The defendants face a maximum of twenty five years in state prison.
Assistant District Attorney Joseph DiBenedetto of the Investigations Division and Assistant District Attorney Christine O’Connor of Superior Court Trial Division are prosecuting the case.
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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE Commentary by Rob Riley, President, White Plains Police Benevolent Association. June 1, 2012:
It is not easy being a police officer. Every day you put on your uniform is one where you may look death in the face.
But even more frightening than the threat against your own life is that you may have to take someone else’s. It is the worst nightmare of every police officer to be forced to draw their weapon and defend themselves or save others with lethal force.
Unfortunately, officers often are left with no choice. They must make the incredibly difficult decision between their own lives, saving others and taking that of another.
This judgment many times must be made in a split second. An officer can only hope that years of training and experience along with a strong moral character will lead them to act justly.
There are no winners in these situations. Even in the clearest of circumstance, when the police are apprehending violent, dangerous people, every officer hopes that the confrontation will end without incident. Many times, it is much more complicated.
The shooting of Kenneth Chamberlain is a tragic example of when – all too common in law enforcement –there are no positive outcomes. It is incredibly sad that Mr. Chamberlain was shot and killed, but if the officers had acted differently, perhaps we would be mourning the death of a policeman who had come to help Chamberlain instead.
A grand jury was convened and examined mounds of evidence about the incident, concluding that the officers involved acted in accordance with the law. That is likely little conciliation to Mr. Chamberlain’s family, who are understandably angry at the loss of their loved one. Our hearts truly do go out to them.
Though it may be difficult for some to believe, the officers that night were trying to help Mr. Chamberlain. He was acting as a danger to himself and potentially others. If the officers had simply left that night, it could have produced the tragic result and we would be talking about police negligence instead of police acting out of necessity.
We will never know. It is easy to look back and second guess the actions of officers faced with such difficult circumstances. The fact is that police work is not pretty. It is ugly business keeping people safe, locking up criminals and generally dealing with people during their worst moments.
It would be naïve to assume that both the actions of every officer and their consequences exist in a vacuum. Race, gender, societal norms, etc. all play a role in deterring right from wrong. Rightly so, such actions are evaluated by the public, the legal system and our politicians. But it is importantly that they do so fairly and with perspective.
People outside of law enforcement have the luxury of looking at the world in simple terms. Police officers do not. Every case is different and must be weighed based on the conditions – even with a barrel of a gun or knife in your face. It is indeed a very difficult job.
And yet we need officers in order to make our society work. They are the ones willing to make those difficult decisions. They are the ones willing to put their lives on the line for all of us. When we judge them in our hearts and minds, we must not forget that fact.
What is certain is that no officer joins the force in order to take a life. They join to save lives. Sometimes, those two values conflict.The decisions they have to make because of that areso often tragic. What would be more tragic, however, is losing our faith in the people that must make them.
Rob Riley is the president of the White Plains Police Benevolent Association.
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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. Special to WPCNR. May 31, 2012:
The White Plains Commissioner of Public Safety released the following statement providing details of how the White Plains Police Department located Pierce Crowley, the 15 year old runaway from Rye, missing since last Friday afternoon), in New York City early Thursday morning in Washington Heights, Manhattan. Here is Commissioner David Chong’s statement on the matter:
“At approximately 12:30 AM this morning (Thursday) White Plains Detectives located missing person/runaway Pierce Crowley in the Washington Heights section of New York City. Pierce was spotted by two NYPD uniform Police Officers on Patrol who were checking out a group of youths. The NYPD Officers had our flyers about Pierce in their memo books. They immediately contacted our units and we took possession of Pierce.
We transported Pierce back to White Plains and early this morning he was returned to his relieved parents in Rye. This is a great example of tenacious Detective work by the White Plains Police Department. It was really like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I congratulate the entire Department for their efforts and most specifically, Lieutenant Eric Fisher Commander of Detectives and his Detectives for their tireless efforts over the past few days. We are all relieved that Pierce is back with his family.”
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WPCNR FBI WIRE. Special to WPCNR from the Federal Bureau of Investigation May 31, 2012:
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that David Griffiths, 66, of White Plains, the executive director of the Neighborhood Enhancement for Training Services Inc. (NETS), a now non-operating not-for-profit corporation in the Bronx, New York that provided programs and services for young people and for senior citizens, was found guilty yesterday in Manhattan federal court on all three counts contained in an information charging him with making false statements to the government, obstruction of justice, and mail fraud. Griffiths was convicted after a four-week jury trial before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “In just two hours, a jury of 12 men and women convicted David Griffiths of lying to cover up the fact that he had taken taxpayer dollars from a not-for-profit organization that provided services to Bronx residents in need. Their swift verdict demonstrates that there is no tolerance for this illegal conduct and that those who engage in it will be punished.”
According to the evidence introduced at trial, other proceedings in this case, and documents previously filed in Manhattan federal court:
Griffiths began serving as the executive director of NETS in November 2003. NETS received almost all of its funding from government grants sponsored by a Bronx Assemblyman. In 2008, the FBI began investigating the not-for-profit and how it had used those government funds.
In June 2009, Griffiths made materially false statements and representations in documents he provided to the FBI in response to a Southern District of New York grand jury subpoena. The documents were purported minutes of meetings of the board of directors of NETS that related to, among other things, alleged authorizations he had obtained from the board to take certain payments from the not-for-profit. Griffiths gave the minutes to the FBI in an attempt to mislead them and obstruct their investigation of NETS. Specifically, Griffiths attempted to cover up tens of thousands of dollars he had taken from NETS with no authorization and his scheme to take almost $200,000 more from the not-for-profit.
In September 2010, Griffiths, on behalf of NETS, attempted to obtain additional grant money from a New York State agency under false pretenses. Specifically, Griffiths misrepresented to the agency that the not-for-profit and its officers and directors had not been the subject of a criminal investigation, a civil investigation, and/or unsatisfied tax liens and judgments for the past five years. At the time Griffiths made these misrepresentations, he knew that both he and the not-for-profit were under investigation by the FBI as well as by the State Attorney General’s Office and that NETS had unsatisfied tax liens and judgments against it.
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Griffiths, 66, of White Plains, New York, faces a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 in addition to the proceeds of the crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced after post-trial briefing.
Mr. Bharara praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the investigation of this case.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Carrie H. Cohen and Justin Anderson are in charge of the prosecutions.
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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. From a White Plains CitizeNetReporter. May 31, 2012, UPDATED JUNE 3, 2012:
A correspondent advises WPCNR that a coyote has been spotted lurking “numerous times” by a number of residents in the vicinity of French American School of New York Ridgeway property and North Street during the last two weeks. Another reader writes WPCNR Sunday: “I spotted a coyote last Monday morning (Memorial Day) at 12:15 AM on Anderson Hill Rd in Harrison.”
Have you seen an animal of this description?
Typical Coyote well-groomed. (Stock Photo)
The correspondent says that on this past Sunday afternoon, in broad daylight, it attacked her neighbor’s dog, who called the police.
Residents should be aware not to leave pets or children unattended in the yards and be aware of the possibility that the coyote or coyote(s) may be encountered on evening walks.
Coyotes have been reported now in the county for the last five years. The last reported attack of a coyote occurred in April 2010 in Rye when a poodle tied to a stake in a yard was killed by a Coyote.
Here are some tips on how to avoid being a house of interest to coyotes:
Coyotes have a very broad range of adaptation. They are seen traveling alone, in pairs, and in packs. Their very broad diet allows them to survive in many different territories. At the present times coyotes are more afraid of humans then we are of them. Some cases have shown coyotes becoming more brave and aggressive towards humans. Cases such as people feeding these animals give the coyote a sense of trust that through adaptation will be bad in the future. They have been known to become less afraid and more aggressive toward humans. Coyotes use urine to mark their territories and have a variety of calls which help defend their territory as well as strengthen bonds and communication.
Coyotes have a keen sense of sight, smell, and hearing, which allow them to survive in many different areas. Food is what makes the coyote’s habitat. Wherever the food is, is where the coyote needs to be. They can occupy a range of up to twelve miles. Although coyotes dig their own dens, they have been known to burrow out small fox and badger holes. They are also found in small mountain crevices. These dens are only used for tending to the young the rest of the year these dens are abandoned.
A coyotes’ main diet consists of mice, rats, insects, rabbits, etc. They are known to hunt day and night, either alone or in packs. Coyotes will occasionally hunt larger animals but not alone. They have also been known to eat out of open garbage cans and whatever humans feed them. So keep your garbage cans covered and do not encourage them with food.
Preventing Coyotes
There are a few things that can help prevent coyote occurrences. First of all keep all pets and pet food and their water indoors or in a secured kennel if you live in an area that is suspected of or is known to be in this wild animal’s foraging range. Try to avoid feeding wild cats as they are part of the diet of a coyote as well as the food you feed the cats. Minimize your ground cover of vegetation and pick up any fallen fruit from fruit trees within the area.
Coyote will feed on a wide variety of foods and have also been seen feeding on carrion. This diet can make them your ally or a liability. It is not rare at all to find up to a dozen rodents in the stomach of a coyote. Once natural food sources in a given area have been depleted, lone animals or those belonging to a pack will move on to better hunting grounds – but usually return at a later date. If an animal controls rodent populations, it can be welcomed on the property.
Only when coyote become a danger or otherwise become a pest are they considered to be nuisance wildlife to be controlled.
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Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Khaddy Garcia’s attempts to dupe bank representatives into giving him online access to millions of dollars of other people’s money were ultimately foiled. But this case should serve as a reminder to every business of the critical need for well-developed human and technical security defenses to guard against cyber thieves.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said, “The defendant stole $200,000—and attempted to steal a great deal more. He did it through social engineering, using a telephone as effectively as a burglar uses a blowtorch or a crowbar. Whatever the method, stealing money is a serious crime with serious consequences.”
USSS Special Agent in Charge Jacob Christine said, “The Secret Service has a close working relationship with local and federal law enforcement partners as well as private sector entities that pays dividends in investigations such as this.”
According to the information, the complaint previously filed in the case, and statements made during yesterday’s guilty plea proceeding:
Between February 2011 and January 2012, Garcia called customer service representatives at various banks, falsely representing that he was the owner or agent of a particular business with an account at the bank, and claiming that he had “forgotten” the username and password needed to access the business’s bank account online through the bank’s Internet banking system. Garcia sought to induce the representative to provide him with this information. On those occasions when Garcia was successful, he used this access to withdraw funds from the compromised account by issuing checks and wire transfers to himself and to his co-conspirators. Through this scheme, Garcia fraudulently obtained online access to more than 20 different business bank accounts from which he attempted to withdraw over $1.5 million and ultimately succeeded in withdrawing over $200,000.
In December 2011, Garcia engaged in a separate scheme to defraud a venture capital firm located in New York, New York (the “Venture Capital Firm”) of $2 million. Specifically, after learning that the owner of the Venture Capital Firm had initiated a wire transfer of $2 million to a bank account maintained for the Venture Capital Firm by a clearing firm (the “Clearing Firm”), Garcia made numerous phone calls to the owner and agents of the owner in which he falsely identified himself as a representative from the Clearing Firm. Over the course of these calls, Garcia fraudulently represented to the owner and his agents that the $2 million had been deposited into the wrong account at the Clearing Firm and that the funds needed to be re-wired to a different account, for which Garcia gave certain routing and account information. In fact, the routing and account information corresponded to an account controlled by Garcia. The fraud was detected before any funds were transferred to the fraudulent account.
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Garcia, 25, of North Bergen, New Jersey, faces a maximum term of 50 years in prison.
Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI Cyber Crime Task Force and the
This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Serrin Turner is in charge of the prosecution.
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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE NIGHT. Submitted by Roving Photographer Ray Frederick. May 29, 2012:
Powerful thunderstorms are now desultorily working their way across Westchester County showcasing some power bursts of lightning. Ray Frederick photographed this spectacular blast from his backyard on his I-Phone moments ago.
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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. From French American School of New York. May 29, 2012:
Under direction from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and with full city of WP approval – the French American School of New York is scheduled to begin today the removal of trees that are growing on the earthen dam at the south end of the pond on the former golf course.
The issue of the dam was raised by neighbors. The DEC was contacted by the city and after inspecting the dam developed a plan requiring FASNY to remove large trees and underbrush on the dam.
This work includes the removal of 5 large (80 foot) trees and other vegetation. Some of the small trees (under 6” diameter) will be left. A large tree crane was scheduled to be on site today. Passersby may see and/or hear the activity, and that’s the explanation. The entire plan has been developed in full collaboration with the DEC and the city and is sanctioned by both the DEC and the city.
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WPCNR SOUTHEND LIFE. By The American Grillman. Reprinted from The CitizeNetReporter Archives. July 5, 2008: It’s the come home day of another Memorial Day Wekend in White Plains, coming home for that Memorial Day picnic. After Monday’s Memorial Day Parade starting at 10 AM in downtown White Plains, honoring our veterans it is time to usher in summer officially. Thanks to the chimney charcoal starter and its glowing orange coals, the backyard American barbeque DNA macho in the amateur chef is once again the equal of the overpriced steak cooked indoors at any restaurant. Steak was raised outside, it was born to be cooked outside, and the barbequed steak on orange charcoal’s glow puts the Cartier- priced steakhouse in its place! In this griller’s opinion, ourdoor grilling proves once again to be the equal and superior to the overpriced artificial-tasting steak that sleek decor and atmosphere cannot duplicate backyard orgins. The economy may be a press secretary’s fantasy, your home price declining, your taxes going up, but remember, even the hobo can grill! To do real steak right , you have to do it outside on charcoal. The instinct of generations of the American backyard barbeque tradition passed up from the cave, enjoyed at Valley Forge, sunk into y cowboys around chuck wagons on the prairie and up from the Southland barbeque inbred and passed on from American father to American son – cutting across nationality and station – gives you real steak – not $100 technology enhanced cuts. Flaming charcoal makes steak a living thing in your mouth! What is it about the American Grillman that’s so special that his or hers backyard cuts beat the insider professionals’ inflation-friendly ostentatious steaks? It’s the unique chemistry of being American and charcoal flame. You’re not really part of America unless you’re grillin” like an American. And on Independence Day Weekend coming up, it’s not July 4 unless you’re grillin’. There’s just something about the searing intensity of glowing charcoal combining mystically with the testosterone and instinctual synergy between red meat and the dedicated outdoor griller — it beats in taste, juiciness and texture the contrived technology of the most expensive restaurant equipment. No matter how tasty the megabuck meat is in the swank sticker shock steak palaces, there’s always that articificialness packaged taste that marks the indoor steak. The butteryness. The soft crust of the black topped surface of the indoor steak just does not have the nubile grizzled roughhewn flamed yield of the outdoor one-on-one grilled steak that fights your bicuspids every cillemeter.It is like a showgirl seen from a distance who looks older the closer you get. Only one whose money is easily parted would pay $50 and up for a buttery indoor steak dinner when you can do it yourself in the backyard even in 20 degree weather even in the rain – the steaks done to perfection with the juices sealed in. The chimney starter – the secret to the hot start. No more charcoal fluid needed. Take a copy of The Journal News and scrunch up the news section or the sports section in the bottom of the Chimney Starter. (Experience shows that copies of the Journal News — any Gannett paper — burn better than the New York Times which is very slow-starting) Pour in a helping of those ultimate black beauties, Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the chimney top. Fifteen minutes before the wife has the sides ready, take a wooden match to the aperatures in the base of the starter and light up the edges of the newsprint. Within 10-15 minutes you’ve got coals a firey orange red. You’re ready to outcook the pros. Eat Your Heart Out, Mr. or Ms. Professional Food Designer and Celebrity Chef! After the Griller’s wife has marinated the meat – these Stop and Shop trimmed New York Strips sizzling in the caressing deep searing heat of glowing orange briquettes – 3 minutes a side and deft turning and surgical rareness checks – the seasoned grillista simply has a feel for the meat – passed genetically down from generations of American grillers. The combination of cauldron, flavored steel grill rods coated in the char of former grillings, and perfect licking flames create the branded grillmarks that deliver the natural taste of the backyard steak – impossible to achieve for any price in the tehnologically nuanced, high tech steam tables of today. No one can do a great cut like you can, Mr. America! FEEL THE BURN! As any redblooded American Grillman will tell you when doing a steak – you can’t deliver a steak by manual or instructions. You have to feel the meat. Feel it cook. You just know its time. Every cut is not the same. The American Grillman becomes one with the meat. With eye and knowledge of the hue of red – you just know by instinct when she’s done. Cooking is slowed down by moving the meats to the side off the heat to keep the American beauties warm With the wife’s deft presentation, sweet potato fries, corn pudding, fresh beans and mushrooms without the sog of infrared glare, the Grillman’s natural art relegates the indoor steak out of the taste sweepstakes. Gentlemen, start your grils and fire up to get that taste of summer you cannot get in any indoor steakhouse no matter how much you pay. And–gas grills, are you kidding me? Only charcoal does it the American Way!
I think America can pull itself out of this temporary hiccup in the American economy and “anything-but-the-issues-politics”. as long as the American grilling tradition is handed down, the pioneer “can-do” spirit lives!
