A Shih Tzu named Zahara lost its life last September because a man was angry at his girlfriend and their relationship, and the authorities have finally caught up with him. WNBC reports that 27-year-old Sherman Haynes "threw his girlfriend's small dog out his third-floor window, killing the defenseless animal," yelling, "You need your dog?" to his girlfriend, 25-year-old Farah Benoit. The couple were at his East 93rd Street apartment in Brooklyn, where he also threw......

The man who broke into Kirsten Dunst's hotel room in the SoHo Grand last August, Jarrod Beinerman, is now headed for jail. The NY Post reports that he's been sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison after being arrested on burglary and larceny charges, though "he was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of attempted burglary." All in all Dunst had her iPod, cameras, wallets, purses and cash taken from her. Since the......

Last month the massive amounts of smashed car window glass on Water Street in DUMBO got some attention online, and a blog of its own. Across the cobblestone street from some of the victimized cars a sign appeared on a wall saying the culprit was likely Darren Stone, aka Squarehead. Now the The NY Post reports that the 43-year-old Stone has been arrested for felony criminal mischief after cops used DNA evidence from one break-in......

John Gotti Jr., who was recently arrested by the feds on charges of murder and drug running, pleaded not guilty in a Florida court. Though the murders were allegedly in NY, he is being prosecuted in Florida because prosecutors say the Gambino crime family was "trying to gain a foothold" in Tampa. Which his lawyers are trying to change, saying, "The events happened in New York, and it's a disadvantage to transfer everything here." Prosecutors......

All has been silent on the stabby front in the South Side of Williamsburg. Metro now takes a look at the incidents, which have been going on since April of this year, and have often involved machetes (possibly wielded by the gang called Trinitarios). The paper reports that the 90th Precinct has "experienced the sharpest rise in crime since last year of any neighborhood in Brooklyn," coming in at 13.49% (as a comparison, the 94th......

Early yesterday morning, an 18-year-old woman was attacked in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. WABC 7 reports the woman had been walking down a street when an man wielding a gun "took her to the back of a building where she was robbed and sexually assaulted." According to the Daily News, the victim ran back home and "hysterically pointed out her attacker to [her boyfriend] and his friends." The group tried to chase the......

Cornelius Abson, who admitted to choking and robbing an 85-year-old woman as well as robbing other victims, appeared in court last Friday. However, his arraignment was postponed because his lawyer requested a psychological exam. Lawyer Eric Bannister said, "It's my belief that my client is suffering serious mental health issues," and noted the bruises and bump on his client's head, "I believe my client has a legitimate fear for his safety." Abson, who claimed his......

Here's today's second instance of Asian weaponry used in a potential crime: A Brooklyn resident was arrested for plotting his wife's murder. The police are pretty sure Rockefeller Auguste was trying to kill his wife because he paid $5,000 to an undercover cop posing as a hit man. Captain James Coan explained, "He felt he had been wronged, and he wanted the 'hit man' he hired to follow his exact instructions - and gave him......

After the disturbing footage showing an 85-year-old woman who was followed into an apartment building, choked to unconsciousness in the elevator, and then robbed of her money AND cane, the NYPD is now, per Newsday, "focusing in large part on the area around Flatbush, near Prospect Park." Police suspect the same person is behind that attack as well as 11 others (the other victims are 11 women and one man); they were robbed of money......

The Queens DA's press release gives some more details about the 18-year-old who fatally shot his cousin. Felix Cruz allegedly "pointed the firearm at her and pulled the trigger. The gun made a clicking noise and nothing happened. The defendant allegedly then pulled the trigger again, this time discharging a bullet that struck [Veronica] Cruz in the face, killing her." The Queens DA's office adds that Cruz tried to get rid of the gun by......

Following yesterday's news of Mark David Chapman's latest chance for parole coming up this week, The Daily News chimes in with some more from Yoko Ono. She has, naturally, long been against her husband's killer being released, for her family's safety, but has also stated that: "It's dangerous for him to come out. Not only for us, but for himself. There are so many people out there who dislike him. It's safer for him to......

Yesterday morning, a man was discovered beaten to death, near a Sikh temple in South Richmond Hill on 118th Street. WABC 7 reports his body was "found in a pool of blood, his facial features barely recognizable." It's believed the weapon was a broomstick, as splintered pieces of one were found near the scene. Shocked neighbors described him as a homeless, non-practicing Sikh; one said he was often drunk and sometimes fought with other homeless......

Last year 43% of readers voted that that NYPD's Sky Watch was useless. Now Animal New York reports on the retractable 20-foot-tall watchtower and now it's popping up in more and more neighborhoods (they name Crown Heights, Harlem and DUMBO as a few). More recently one of the temporary watchtowers has been erected on Graham Avenue and Moore Street, which they pinpoint as "the Bushwickish section of Williamsburg." Allegedly this one is for some robberies......

The Lower Manhattan Jack Spade store has been burgled multiple times this year, and as they say: three's a trend. In that vein, Men's Vogue reports that the store has now decided to celebrate their thief, who has returned three times to lift the perfect accessories for his crime (a little over $1K in merchandise). "Smitten by this criminal's dedication and affinity for their products they have created a comic book to commemorate his adventures,"......

Wow: When a man tried to rob 86-year-old Elizabeth Maropoulos in Hell's Kitchen on Sunday morning, she told the Post, "Once I realized he was coming after me, I went kick, kick!" Still, she was knocked down and robbed of $100. Luckily the thief, Earl Wearing, was caught--Maropoulos proclaimed him a "bad, bad boy. He's a bastard." And a bartender at the Blarney Stone, where Maropoulos is apparently a regular, said she's a tough lady,......

Yesterday, another woman was attacked in Queens, and it may be linked to a series of five other attacks in the past few months. WABC 7 reports a man with a knife pushed 18-year-old to the ground (she got away but was cut when pushing the knife away) Police believe there are two serial rapists who have attacked at least 12 twelve women in Queens. State Senator Malcom Smith issued an ultimatum for the NYPD,......

Yesterday, a Canadian tourist, staying at a friend's apartment at The Heywood on Ninth Ave. and West 26th, was followed into the building and attacked around 4 a.m. The Post reports the suspect "followed her into the apartment and choked her into unconsciousness," and the victim "awoke minutes later to find her clothes partially removed, a small amount of cash, jewelry and a cellphone missing." But the attacker was gone; police tell the Daily News......

This year Williamsburg has seen its fair share of stabbings and shootings, and in light of that "a number of local politicians and churches are sponsoring a prayer rally and concert to protest the recent spate of violence in the Southside." One of the latest crimes took place over the East River recently at the daylight drenched hour of 4:45 p.m. The Brooklyn Paper reported that "a gun-toting thug tried to mug a 28-year-old man......

The police released a sketch and surveillance video of the man believed to be involved in a series of sexual attacks in Queens, most near bus stops. While the suspect's face is not visible in the surveillance video, police are hoping someone will recognize the man's walk and mannerisms. In two incidents, the man, who has used a knife to threaten his victims, was wearing a hoodie and black Nike Air Force One sneakers. City......

Yesterday morning, at the Rockaway Deli & Grocery in Queens, a customer apparently lost it and stabbed two employees. According to WABC 7, Ortho Arnold is seen on a surveillance tape getting his change and then spitting in the cashier's face: "As other nervous customers start leaving the store, Arnold pulls the knife." The victims, the owner's son and cousin, were able to fight him off with broomsticks. The owner said Arnold is a regular......

This is horrible. A 65-year-old man was arrested for sodomizing a 16-year-old boy yesterday morning on a Bay Ridge Street. Apparently the NYPD narcotics unit was monitoring a surveillance camera when they saw Reham Ali hiding something between two parked cars around Seventh Avenue and 64th Street. The Daily News reports that two officers went to see what was happening and found Ali "holding down and sodomizing" the mentally retarded boy. A police source told......

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly explained why there are more younger muggers these days: It's the iPhone! The News reports, "Juveniles [ages 11-19] accounted for 29% of the 7,340 robbery arrests and 27% of the 4,566 grand larceny busts this year, an 8% jump in each category compared to this time last year." Kelly said, "The explosive popularity of these devices has also made them inviting targets for thefts. Teens are commonly the culprits as well......

Raffaello Follieri, the alleged con man who’s been charged with 11 counts of fraud and money laundering, has been languishing in a 7½-by-8-foot cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center for a month since his arrest. To make matters worse, his ex-girlfriend Anne Hathaway refuses to speak with him, and his longtime adviser and attorney Marty Edelman may testify against him. (Not a war-time consigliere.) A friend of Follieri – he still has one, at least......

A resident of Sunnyside Queens says her neighborhood now “has hoards and I mean hoards of homeless people, derelicts, and the like that have been all and around the neighborhood harassing people.” Today she wrote into local blog Queens Crap to ask if a new half-way house or homeless shelter has opened up nearby, because “the situation has escalated only within the last month and a half!!!!!!! I was walking home one evening, it was......

The Post looks at the NYPD's recent crime data and notes burglaries have risen up to 25% "in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods." While burglaries have dropped citywide by 8.9%, there has been a 26.8% rise on the Upper East Side, 20.2% in Midtown East (including Murray Hill), 24.5% increase on the Upper West Side, 19.2% in Chelsea and 26.2% in Greenwich Village. Community Board 2 (located in the Village) Chairman Brad Hoylman said, "We've......

The lawyer accused of operating a strip club/brothel in Midtown was held on $150,000 bail, as was his wife. And his employees spared no details about Lou Posner while talking with the tabloids. Posner and wife Betty owned the Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street, which featured strippers, sex shows and "private rooms" where police claim customers could buy more intimate time with dancers, not to mention procure drugs from a house dealer.......

At the Hot Lap Dance Club on West 38th Street, police say customers could indulge not just in hot lap dances but some more intimate fun by the hour in cubicles, private bedrooms or even "off-premises." And what's more, the joint was run by a group of people, including one who started a voter reform advocacy group after the 2000 election and a private police force cop. Undercover cops posing as men having a bachelor......

The 22-year-old man who was shot in Brooklyn last weekend, an incident that left a gruesome mess at the bus depot on Broadway and Roebling, has died. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the altercation leading to the shooting began at Williamsburg's Festa del Giglio, and witnesses say the scuffle resulted in Williamsburg resident Richard Duran getting shot in the face. "The gunmen — who onlookers suspect were gang members — sprinted off," however, the shooter......

The Daily News sheds some light on Saturday morning's stabbings in Williamsburg (though the Post's sources seem to tell a slightly different story). They report: "A machete-wielding mob marching down a gritty Brooklyn street stabbed a pair of teenagers Saturday during a bloody night in the city that left two other men dead. About 15 suspected gang members, wearing T-shirts over their faces, stormed down S. Third St. in Williamsburg around 2 a.m. brandishing 18-inch......

An 18-year-old graduate of Far Rockaway High was fatally shot on Beach 16th Street yesterday morning. The Daily News reports Patrick Hernandez, who had played on the high school football team and was headed to SUNY Cortland this fall, "had spent the morning helping clean up a local beach and was walking home with his brother" when a shooter jumped out of a car and fired at him. The police are speaking to a suspect.......