Set murder trial
Michael Brown goes on trial for murder before Criminal Court Judge James A. Yates on Thurs. March 16 in connection with the Sept. 21 shooting death of Thomas McKinney across the street from Mission bar on the Bowery at Rivington St.
The shooting occurred on the street after an argument that started inside the bar over a spilled drink that involved four women who were with Brown and McKinney. A homeless man, Jeffrey Dudley, who was lying on the sidewalk across the street from Mission bar was injured in the shooting.
‘Fire fiend’ trial
Peter Braunstein, 41, the freelance writer charged in the Halloween night sexual abuse of a Chelsea woman while posing as a city firefighter, goes on trial before State Supreme Court Justice Micki A. Scherer on March 23.
Braunstein, arrested Dec. 16 in Memphis, Tenn., after a multistate manhunt, is alleged to have started two small fires in the hall of the W. 24th St. building where his victim lived and pushed his way into her apartment when she opened the door.
He is charged with arson, assault, first-degree sexual abuse, burglary and first-degree kidnapping. Braunstein is alleged to have bound, sexually abused and videotaped the victim for longer than 12 hours before fleeing. He was identified as a possible suspect by his former girlfriend, who brought stalking and menacing charges against him that were still pending at the time of the Oct. 31, 2005, incident.
Dismiss shooting charges
First-degree assault charges were dismissed on March 8 against Leroy Peeples, president of The Source, a hip-hop magazine, and Alvin Childs, the magazine’s marketing director, in connection with a July 23, 2005, shooting in which three people were injured in front of Limerick House, a pub at 69 W. 23rd St.
“After a lengthy investigation, police and the district attorney’s office determined that the people’s case could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and the charges were dismissed,” said a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau
The defendants, whose office is across the street from the pub, had been charged with shooting Orlando Oregeno, an aspiring rap performer, his cousin, Alex Colon, and Greg Palmer, a Limerick House busboy who sustained chest wounds. The incident began with an argument over whether to play Oregeno’s CD on the Limerick House jukebox.
Soho art books
An undetected thief carried off eight large art books valued at a total of $6,500 on Monday afternoon March 6 from the Franklin Bowles Galleries at 431 Broadway between Spring and Prince Sts., police said.
Soho car theft
A man who parked his 1993 Range Rover on Mercer St. just north of Spring St. on Friday morning March 3 returned at 8:15 a.m. to find it missing, police said.
Union Sq. subway rescue
A man who fell between the moving platform and a No. 5 train pulling into the Union Square subway station on Friday afternoon March 10 was saved by a transit employee and two passengers, according to a Daily News article.
The rescuers grabbed the victim, described only as a man in his 50s, when he fell as the train entered the station, and prevented his slipping beneath the platform. His leg, which was caught between the train and the moving platform, was freed before the train left the station, and he was taken to Bellevue in stable condition.
Robs bank client
A man who passed a note demanding money to a teller at the Citibank branch at 322 W. 23rd St. on Wednesday afternoon March 8 turned and robbed a bank patron when the teller refused to comply, police said. The robber, described as a black man about age 25, 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing between 170 and 180 pounds, snatched a wallet with $100 and credit cards from a man waiting on line and fled, police said. The thief was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and gray shoes.
Girls are missing
Two girls, 16, last seen at about 2 p.m. Wed. Feb. 22 as they were leaving Odyssey House, the voluntary drug-treatment center at 309 E. Sixth St., together, were still missing this week, police said. Elizabeth Martini was described as 5 feet 6 inches, 120 pounds, with a thin build, brown eyes and auburn hair and wearing blue jeans, a black coat and black cowboy boots. Franka Roderick was described as having a thin build, weighing about 100 pounds, with gray eyes and black hair and wearing a black coat and blue jeans. Anyone with information should phone detectives at the Ninth Police Precinct, 212-477-7809.
Albert Amateau
