Thursday, December 12, 2013

Westchester Square News: Santa Spotted in the Bronx

Westchester Square News: Santa Spotted in the Bronx: BRONX, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 12- Santa had a busy time in the Bronx last week. First he attended the annual lighting of the Parkc...

Santa Spotted in the Bronx

BRONX, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 12- Santa had a busy time in the Bronx last week. First he attended the annual lighting of the Parkchester Christmas tree at the Oval. The event, filled with local singers and dancers, was capped off with the
holiday lights inside Met Oval. Then Old St. Nick was on hand for the tree lighting at the Fordham BID.
Arthur Avenue kicked off the holiday season with a tree lighting and a visit from Santa. In addition, holiday carolers sang to inspire the crowd.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Westchester Square News: Woman pleads guilty to doggone assault on bus driv...

Westchester Square News: Woman pleads guilty to doggone assault on bus driv...: BRONX, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 4- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that a 19-year-old woman has been convicted of assaulting an...

Woman pleads guilty to doggone assault on bus driver


BRONX, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 4- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that a 19-year-old woman has been convicted of assaulting an MTA bus driver after the driver refused to allow the defendant’s dog to board the bus.
Steangeli Medina pled guilty to assault in the second degree, the top count in the indictment, before Acting State Supreme Court Justice Patricia DiMango. Under the plea agreement Medina will be sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation.

Medina has also agreed to waive her right to appeal the conviction and will complete a mandatory anger management program. The judge also issued an eight-year order of protection, which prohibits Medina from having any contact with the bus driver.

On December 12, 2013, the defendant will surrender and be held without bail pending a sentencing date which will be set once the Department of Probation has prepared a pre-sentencing report.

The assault occurred on June 21, 2011 at a bus stop on East Fordham Road and Third Avenue when the defendant became enraged because bus operator Marlene Bien-Aime would not allow Medina’s dog to get on the bus without being in a pet carrier. Medina dragged the driver out of her seat, off the bus and onto the sidewalk where Medina struck the victim repeatedly.

As a result, the victim sustained extreme facial bruising and swelling, suffered partial vision loss, which has since been restored, and underwent surgery for injuries to her knee and shoulders. The trauma resulted in the bus driver being off the job on a medical leave for one year.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Hilary Chernin of the Trial Division.

Tags: Assault, Bus Driver, Dog

Monday, December 2, 2013

Westchester Square News: Still Searching for Answers

Westchester Square News: Still Searching for Answers: Pair Saved After Westchester Square Explosion (Photos by David Greene) By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 2- A half...

Still Searching for Answers

Pair Saved After Westchester Square Explosion
(Photos by David Greene)
By David Greene
BRONX, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 2- A half dozen civilians helped remove debris and assisted firefighters in locating two men who were buried in rubble after an explosion brought a small building down on top of them.
Rescue crews were called to B & L Auto Repair at 2601 Westchester Avenue at just before 8 a.m., on November 27, after the adjacent one-story structure used as an office, exploded and collapsed trapping the pair in debris.
Bill Sanfardino, who works at nearby electrical shop, recalled, "They’re good people... fortunately they got out alive, I mean it was a crazy scene. The building just exploded, I don't know how or why."
"We were sitting in the shop," Sanfardino continued, "and we heard a boom." Sanfardino stated they located the victims within the five minutes it took for rescue crews to arrive.
Doroteo Sanchez, a day-laborer was standing across the street at the time of the explosion, recalled, "I heard a loud boom. I thought it was a truck that hit one of the columns for the train station. I turned around and the building was down and smoke was rising up into the air."
Sanchez, 51, continued, "We all ran over there to see what was going on and somebody said that someone was in there, so we started looking around and moving beams and wood and brick out of the way.
"It looked like a war zone," Sanchez concluded, "I thought a bomb hit it or something."
The unidentified 63-year-old father and his 36-year-old son were rushed to Jacobi Hospital and were both expected to recover.
B & L Auto has been in business for the last 30-years.
One source close to the investigation stated that the victims were using an air compressor as they welded a gas line when the explosion took place.
Chief William Seelig of the FDNY's Special Operations Division, stated, "It was some pretty manually intensive work we needed to do to get the victims out."
Seelig added that the exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation.   
Tags: Building Collapse, Westchester Avenue