Police Commissioner Calls Queens Slaying a Hate Crime by Joseph Goldstein - NYTimes.com

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Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Tuesday that the fatal beating of an 18-year-old man in Queens early Saturday “falls into the category of a hate crime.”

The victim, Anthony Collao, was at a party at a house in Woodhaven when five gate-crashers, none older than 17, pushed their way inside, Mr. Kelly said. Once indoors, they began “making homophobic remarks” and writing messages on the wall in red markers, said Mr. Kelly, who was asked about the case after a City Council hearing.

As Mr. Collao, who the police said was at the party with a girlfriend, left about 1 a.m., he encountered the same group outside the house, on 90th Street. One of the teenagers had a metal bat and another had a cane, according to a criminal complaint.

With a shout of “this is my hood,” the teenagers chased Mr. Collao down 90th Street and set upon him in a storm of punches, kicks and blows from “an object that appeared to be a stick,” according to the complaint.

Mr. Collao was taken to Jamaica Hospital and died late Monday after he was taken off life support, Mr. Kelly said. The attack and the death were reported by The Daily News on Tuesday.

When the police arrested one of those suspected in the attack, Christopher Lozada, he had an Atlanta Braves cap that belonged to Mr. Collao, according to the complaint. The police also discovered blood on Mr. Lozada’s clothing and on the sneakers of a second person arrested in the case, according to the complaint, which said that a metal pipe with blood on it was recovered from the crime scene.

Mr. Lozada and three other suspects were arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Monday on charges of manslaughter, gang assault and weapons possession. The police are still searching for a fifth suspect, whose name they did not release. The criminal complaint does not make any mention of antigay slurs, or offer any suggestion as to what motivated the attack. Mr. Kelly said that investigators with an expertise in hate crimes were looking into the case.

David Franzese, a lawyer for one of the defendants, Luis Tabales, 16, said that his client had nothing to do with the assault and “doesn’t know the other individuals he was arrested with.”

Mr. Franzese said the party was at an abandoned home that had become a hangout for teenagers.

Robbers Kill Woman in Struggle for Purse by Alice McQuillan - NBC New York

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A woman walking with her husband on a quiet Queens street Sunday night was shot and killed by robbers in a struggle for her purse.

The couple was outside in Hollis around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when three men wearing hoodies confronted them.

They demanded the 23-year-old woman’s purse and a struggle erupted. The robbers fired and the woman was shot twice in her torso in front of a home on 204th Street.

The unidentified woman was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Her killers escaped.

Detectives ask anyone with information to call 1 800 577-TIPS.

106th Cop Returns to Work After Shock by Stephen Geffon - Queens Chronicle

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A 106th Precinct police officer who received an electric shock that knocked him to the ground and sent him to the hospital is now back on his feet.

The officer, who police declined to identify, returned to work last week, theysaid.

When the officer opened the door to the Sky Watch tower at Liberty Avenue and 133rd Street at 3:40 p.m. on Jan. 27, he received a jolt of electricity that caused him to fall, police said. An NYPD spokesperson said the officer was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where doctors determined he had fractured his left shoulder.

Sky Watch towers are elevated observation booths police use across the city.

A Con Edison spokesperson said the company could not determine what caused the electrical surge. Company technicians checked the Sky Watch tower’s electrical system after the Jan. 27 incident and found it to be working properly with no stray voltage, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted the company ordered the power disconnected as a precautionary measure.

When a Chronicle reporter checked for the tower at Liberty Avenue location last Friday, he found it was no longer there. The NYPD said it was put out of service.

The tower was part of a crime deterrent program initiated by the NYPD in mid-2007, police officials said.

Police said officers in the observation booth atop the two-story towers have a line of vision that gives them the ability to continually monitor conditions in a large area. Atop the booths are digital cameras that record images 24 hours a day, even when the perch is not manned.

The towers, which cost $90,000 each, are also equipped with high-powered spotlights that can illuminate the area when needed.