Subway rape arrest
Eric Coke, 39, who had a Dec. 22 date for a Criminal Court appearance on an unspecified open case against him, was re-arrested when he arrived at court and charged with the Nov. 13 rape of his former girlfriend in the subway station at Church and Fulton Sts. where she was sleeping at the time, police said. The defendant grabbed the victim’s hair, punched her in the face and raped her at about 2:30 a.m. according to the complaint filed by the Manhattan District Attorney. The victim was in pain and bleeding for nine days after the attack, the complaint says. Coke is being held without bail pending a March 17 court appearance. He previously served two prison sentences for felony convictions, according to law enforcement officials.
ID of elderly cycle victim
Police on Monday identified the woman who was struck and killed by a school bus while riding her bicycle on Tues., Jan. 5, at Delancey and Ludlow Sts. The victim, Fuen Bai, was a 74-year-old resident of 620 E. 13th St. in the Tanya Towers project. The driver was not charged and there was no criminality in the incident, police said. Tanya Towers was built in 1973 as a residence for the deaf, though today houses both deaf and hearing residents. A Tanya Towers staff member on Tuesday said she didn’t know if Bai was disabled.
Tunnel rage
A man driving his truck from his home in Jersey City to Manhattan through the Holland Tunnel at 11 p.m. Fri., Jan. 8 sideswiped another motorist in the tunnel, police said. Both drivers proceeded to Manhattan and pulled over at Spring St. and West Broadway where they exchanged heated words. Police arrested Ledwin Bowden, driver of the truck, and charged him with felony assault, accusing him of hitting the other driver with a shovel that he had in the truck. Bowden, 56, was being held pending an April 7 court appearance.
— Albert Amateau
