Not that I was planning a visit there anytime soon, but ...
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Two of New York’s Finest come a cropper
Two of the four black teen subway slashers arrested
A teenage suspect was arraigned early Sunday for his alleged role in a string of brutal subway slashings across Manhattan — in what prosecutors said was a gang initiation ritual.
The 16-year-old was charged with first degree assault, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon and held on $50,000 bail.
“The People have information that the defendant’s violent crime spree on innocent New Yorkers was part of a gang initiation,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Katherine Byrns told the court.
“This defendant and his cohorts entered the subway station at 53rd street and Lexington avenue and robbed multiple individuals along the 6 train line.
“This defendant slashed one individual in the face, while one of his separately charged defendants screamed, ‘Do it again,'” at Union Square, the prosecutor said.
The random rampage continued as the unnamed minor and his accomplices continued riding downtown, and beat up a man that was sleeping on the train at Astor Place, and slashed his friend, prosecutors said.
Another man was slashed in the face at Brooklyn Bridge station, the court heard. In that attack, the defendant is accused of robbing the victim.
“The defendant’s violence did not end there,” Byrns said. “After transferring to the D train, this defendant, and his separately charged co-defendants, approach a sleeping passenger, attempt to take his backpack — and when the victim refused to relinquish his stolen property, this defendant stabbed him in the orbital with a kitchen knife. The same knife used in the two earlier attacks.
“As a result of this defendant’s brazen conduct, the victim lost one of his eyes”
Uh oh, sounds kind of serious, don’t it? Maybe this punk out to be taken off the streets? Nah, don’t worry. The judge, while seemingly a bit disturbed by the defendant’s conduct, still reduced the defendant’s bail, no doubt because of the able work of the slasher’s PD:
The suspect’s Legal Aid attorney, Aaron Horth, begged the court for leniency.
“My client is 16 years old, he is in school full time at a specialized school in Hawthorne, NY. He has no criminal record and very strong family structure,” the lawyer said.
Judge Michael Gaffey ordered the defendant held on $50,000 bail, down from the prosecution’s request of $500,000 bail or $1 million bond.
“I have looked at certain factors … considered very seriously your age, and presumption of release of a person your age … based on the case currently before the court, the court does feel you pose a risk of flight to avoid prosecution,” Gaffey said.
“I have determined that the least restrictive condition … is bail.”
It’s hard to believe that Mr. Foster hadn’t seen the error of his ways after enduring a catch and release event just months ago:
The teen had also been collared on January 13 on first-degree robbery charges for an alleged knifepoint mugging and stabbing of a cyclist. He was released without bail at the time.
I mean, what’s a stabbing, when the liberty of a pleasant young man is at stake?
This time, the judge did require bail, somehow resisting the piteous appeals of Foster’s mouthpiece, attorney Patricia Wright, who pleaded to Judge James Burke for leniency, insisting “there are no injuries caused by [Foster’s] involvement.” It’s understandable that Judge Burke might disagree with attorney Wright’s assessment that an eyeball plucked out by knife tip was not an “injury”, but how could he resist the rest of her heartrending depiction of this fine example of young manhood?
“He has a 3-year-old daughter. He graduated high school. Track and field, played football,” Wright said. “He was released on supervised release. He has a history of perfect attendance with his cases. Monetary bail is not necessary.”
The judge must be one of those racists I’ve been reading about; here’s a gentleman who had the initiative to impregnate a girl ( person?) at 14, and was a full-fledged baby-daddy at 15. Surely that, and his participating in track before “graduating” high school demonstrates a character well deserving of being put back on the street (it’s true that Mr. Foster’s attorney made no mention of her client supporting that love child, but isn’t that really society’s responsibility?)
Whatever COVID left standing in NYC will be destroyed by the new crime wave. Or at least, I wouldn’t want to live or work there.
UPDATE: Gee, are they out on bail already? Three more subway attacks this morning.
And not just by the city’s beloved maniacs.
