Subway stabbing
A man waiting for an F train at the W. Fourth St. station at 5 a.m. Sun. Sept. 25 was stabbed in the chest by one of three men who demanded that he give them his cell phone, police said. The victim, 25, told police he was returning home from a night in the Village when the trio confronted him on the northbound platform. The victim tried to walk away but one of the three stabbed him and all three escaped on a train without the cell phone. The victim was taken to St. Vincent’s hospital in stable condition.
Belly dancer bounced
Sandra Catena, 47, a belly dancer and teacher of belly dancing, received a summons on Sat. Sept. 24 for sitting, unaccompanied by a child, in Rivington Playground at Attorney St.
Catena told the Daily News that two Fifth Precinct officers came up to her, asked her if she was accompanied by a child and then informed her that she was breaking the law. Catena said she didn’t see the small sign that said adults were not allowed except in the company of a child.
The officers called for backup, took Catena to the Pitt St. station and gave her the summons returnable in November.
She said that one officer told her that the judge would likely throw the case out, but the offense is punishable by 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The Department of Parks and Recreation in 1996 designated several playgrounds off-limits to adults not accompanying children to protect youngsters from pedophiles.
Sues rap performer
Nashon Blakney filed a civil suit in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Wed. Sept. 21, against Keith Murray, a rap performer, and the owners of Webster Hall in the East Village in connection with a 2004 Christmas Eve incident backstage at the club.
Blakney, 27, also a rap performer, claims that Murray, 33, stabbed and beat him as Blakney was getting ready to perform at the Christmas Eve concert. He claims also that poor security at Webster Hall contributed to the incident.
Murray, best known for his recording of “Most Beautifullest Thing in the World,” once served time for hitting a man with a bar stool at a Connecticut nightclub.
Police shooting retrial
The new manslaughter trial of a police officer charged with the May 2003 shooting death of an unarmed West African immigrant in a Chelsea warehouse began Mon. Sept. 26 before State Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Straus, who is hearing the case without a jury.
The previous trial of officer Brian Conroy, 27, ended six months ago when the jury failed to agree on a decision.
Conroy, who was with a plainclothes unit conducting a raid on two counterfeit CD operations at Chelsea MiniStorage on W. 27th St. at 12th Ave., claims the victim, Osmane Zongo, then 43, tried to grab his gun when confronted in the corridor of the warehouse. Conroy acknowledges that he fired five shots, four of them hitting the victim, but was justified by Zongo’s actions.
Conroy was alone guarding a cache of counterfeit CDs when Zongo, who spoke little English, came upon him. Zongo, from Burkina Faso, worked repairing African artifacts that importers stored in the warehouse.
Boy missing
Police last week called for help in locating a 16-year-old Williamsburg boy who was last seen getting into a cab with an unidentified man at 9:15 p.m. Sun. Aug. 21 at the corner of W. 10th and Hudson Sts.
Santiago Tirrel, first reported missing by his family on Aug. 26, is described as a black youth of medium complexion, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 115 pounds and a very thin build. Anyone with information should phone 800-577-TIPS (8477).
Soprano sings
Vincent Pastore, 59, who played Big Pussy in the hit television show “The Sopranos,” charged with assaulting his girlfriend last April while they were sitting in a car parked in Little Italy, has agreed to plead guilty to attempted assault and serve 10 days of community service and attend counseling for batterers, according to reports in the Daily News and the Post. Pastore, had originally been charged with two counts of assault, and one count of attempted assault and harassment against Lisa Regina, 44. The plea bargain was reached last week but is not final.
Albert Amateau
