Brooklyn
A man is wanted for allegedly attacking a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge in Homecrest, police sources said. Justice Leon Ruchelsman, 60, was walking along East 16th Street near Avenue R on Monday at about 3:50 p.m. when the attacker came up behind him, shoved him into a tree and fled, sources said. Ruchelsman scraped his face against the tree, breaking his glasses. He also cut his knee and scratched his left ear in the fall, but declined medical attention.
The 24-year-old man who was shot by cops when he reached for a gun during a foot chase in Crown Heights has been formally charged, officials said Thursday. Kareem Thomas was charged with possession of a loaded firearm and reckless driving, authorities said. Officers in a marked car started tailing Thomas Wednesday when they spotted him speeding along Empire Boulevard in his Ford Mustang, police said. Thomas swerved into oncoming traffic near Brooklyn Avenue in his effort to elude cops, but slammed into a flatbed truck, police said. Thomas then hopped out of the car and ran off with a loaded 9 mm Ruger pistol in his hand, cops said. Thomas tripped on Montgomery Street and dropped the weapon, police said. When Thomas reached for the gun, one of the officers shot him in the torso, police said. The Canarsie resident was treated at Kings County Hospital.
The unlicensed driver who fatally struck a pedestrian in Bath Beach was charged Thursday. Naghman Mehdi, 22, was driving his Lincoln MKT along Bay Parkway Wednesday at about 10 p.m. when he slammed into John Saldiran, 61, near Benson Avenue, authorities said. Saldiran was crossing Bay Parkway mid-block when he was hit, according to cops. First responders rushed Saldiran to Coney Island Hospital, where he died. Mehdi stayed at the scene and was arrested when police learned he didn’t have a license.
The Bronx
A 21-year-old man was fatally stabbed in a brawl at a Fordham Manor park that also left two teens wounded, police said. Henry Leal was knifed multiple times in the torso in St. James Park Wednesday at about 7 p.m., cops said. Leal was rushed to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died. A 15-year-old boy and a 19-year-old man also stabbed in the incident were hospitalized in stabled condition.
A man who forced his way into his ex-girlfriend’s Tremont home was stabbed to death by the woman’s brother, police said. Oscar Punter, 23, and a group of pals rushed to his former flame’s home on Lafontaine Avenue near East 180th Street Wednesday around 9 p.m. after he learned she was seeing someone else, cops said. The group forced their way inside and Punter started brawling with his ex’s brother, who stabbed Punter in the chest, authorities said. Punter’s friends loaded him into their car and sped off to nearby St. Barnabas Hospital, but he could not be saved. The woman’s brother, whose name was not released, was being questioned by police.
Queens
An armed robber stole cash and a cellphone from a Kew Gardens Hills gas station early Thursday, only to return moments later to swipe a pack of cigarettes for his accomplice, cops said. A 51-year-old attendant at the Mobil station on Main Street near 68th Avenue unlocked the door of his booth when a passenger hopped out of a red Jeep around 1:30 a.m. The thief walked into the booth, whipped out a gun and demanded cash, authorities said. He returned to the waiting Jeep with about $900 and the attendant’s iPhone 6, but, after consulting with driver, headed back to the booth and grabbed a pack of Newports, police said. The two then went their separate ways, with the gunman fleeing on foot and the driver speeding off.
Two muggers, including a 15-year-old boy, roughed up and tried to rob a man in Briarwood, police said. They surrounded the 23-year-old victim on the corner of 86th Avenue and Parsons Boulevard Wednesday at about 10:15 p.m. and demanded his cellphone, cops said. When the victim hesitated, one of the muggers punched him in the face, authorities said. The pair fled empty-handed, but cops nabbed the 15-year-old about an hour later and charged him with robbery and assault. Officials are withholding his name due to his age. His accomplice was still at large.