Suicide at W.T.C. site
Andrew Veal, 25, of Athens, Ga. killed himself with a shotgun inside the perimeter fence surrounding the World Trade Center site during the early hours of Sat. Nov. 6, according to the Medical Examiner’s office. It is not certain what prompted the suicide. Friends in Athens said he was despondent over the results of the presidential election and the war in Iraq and had just broken up with his fiancée, according to news reports. Millenium Hotel employees spotted his body on top of the concrete structure that covers the subway tracks running through the site.
It was not known how Veal entered the 16-acre restricted area. There were no breaches in the 15-foot fence and no one heard the shot, according to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesperson. A 12-guage shotgun was next to the body but no note was discovered. Veal’s car was found on Barclay St. just north of the site.
Crash victim dies
The pregnant woman hit by an out-of-control S.U.V. that jumped a curb and ploughed into a group of mourners in front of St. Theresa’s Church at Rutgers and Henry Sts. on Oct. 28 died of her injuries at Bellevue Hospital on Fri. Nov. 5. The woman, Zheng Bi Xian, 34, was crossing the street when the vehicle went out of control and struck her before jumping the curb. Her five-month fetus died Nov. 3. Three other people sustained minor injuries. The driver, who fled the scene but went later to the Fifth Precinct, said he accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake. He was not charged.
Swastika graffiti
Employees at the Surrogate’s Court building at 31 Chambers St. reported they found three swastikas scratched in two of the elevators of the building in the afternoon of Mon. Nov. 8. Police have classified it as a bias incident.
Attorney charged
Chak Yin Lee, an attorney who until last July did business from an office at 401 Broadway between Walker and Canal Sts., was indicted on Oct. 19 for stealing a total of $813,839 from at least 10 of his real estate clients between February and September of this year.
Many of the victims were unaware of the theft because the defendant kept postponing the closing dates, Morgenthau’s office said. And on Aug. 2, 2005 he closed his office, shut off his phones and left no forwarding address.
The alleged victims came from all five boroughs and the amounts stolen ranged from $2,000 to $426,860. If convicted, Chak Yin Lee faces up to 15 years in prison.
—Albert Amateau
WWW Downtown Express
