Crime Spree Starts In Hazleton, Ends In New York City

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — A 125-mile crime spree Friday morning that started in Hazleton and ended in New York City involved the kidnapping of one woman, the attempted kidnapping of another and a dramatic ending when a stolen Cadillac Escalade crashed on the George Washington Bridge, police said.

Authorities said a 33-year-old man from New York allegedly kidnapped a woman by force from her residence on North Church Street Friday morning and was captured hours later after the bridge crash.

At a news conference, Hazleton Police Chief Frank DeAndrea identified the suspect as Luis Figueroa. Court records list Figueroa’s address as Walter Avenue, Bronx, New York.

According to DeAndrea, Hazleton police responded to 149 N. Church St. at about 8:30 a.m. after a man armed with a shotgun attempted to abduct a pregnant woman. One of the women in the house had a protection-from-abuse order against Figueroa, the chief said.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news-news/1448833/Crime-spree-starts-in-Hazleton-ends-in-New-York-City

A Place To Be Seen (And Heard) In Upper Manhattan

With the lights of the George Washington Bridge painting the Hudson River and a half-moon hanging over the Palisades, La Marina felt like the place to be last Saturday night.  At the year-old restaurant in Fort Washington Park, at the end of Dyckman Street in Upper Manhattan, two D.J.’s, working opposite ends of the property, cranked up the volume. Patrons ordered bottles of liquor, starting at $130 for rum and rising to $12,000 for a methuselah of Champagne, equal to five bottles, to secure a table on the terrace.  Dancers let loose on the “beach,” a sand-covered strip flanked with four-poster beds draped in flowing white fabric.

“The vibe is getting turned up,” Marc De Jesus, 27, a La Marina regular from the Bronx, said with a wide grin.

But that vibe has become a bit too much for many in the Inwood neighborhood, a residential area that has developed a lively night life in recent years.  They complain that La Marina, a concession on city parkland initially billed as a restaurant-lounge, has evolved into a raucous outdoor nightclub, attracting the likes of Jay-Z and Leonardo DiCaprio.  They say the hot spot snarls traffic for blocks, even backing cars up on the Henry Hudson Parkway; creates noise pollution; and regularly violates the terms of its license with the city’s parks department.

“The crowds are the worst part,” said Terrie Walters, 52, who lives a few blocks away.  “People will drive there even if they live six blocks away.  You want to pull up to the valet and be seen getting out of your S.U.V.  It’s brought an element to the neighborhood that does not fit, and there’s gridlock beyond gridlock, with people fighting and cursing and cutting each other off.”

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/nyregion/a-place-to-be-seen-and-heard-in-upper-manhattan.html?hp&_r=0

Former Rutgers Student Convicted In Webcam Suicide Case

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A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his gay roommate’s love life was convicted of invasion of privacy and anti-gay intimidation Friday in a case that exploded into the headlines when the victim threw himself to his death off a bridge.

Dharun Ravi, 20, shook his head slightly after hearing the guilty verdicts on all 15 counts against him.

He could get several years in prison — and could be deported to his native India, even though he has lived legally in the U.S. since he was a little boy — for an act that cast a spotlight on teen suicide and anti-gay bullying and illustrated the Internet’s potential for tormenting others.

Prosecutors said Ravi set up a webcam in his dorm room in September 2010 and captured roommate Tyler Clementi kissing another man, then tweeted about it and excitedly tried to catch Clementi in the act again two days later. A half-dozen students were believed to have seen the live video of the kissing.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-rutgers-suicide-verdict-20120316,0,208244.story