Police evidence destroyed by storm

From the NY Times:

Perched on a narrow crook of land jutting into New York Harbor, the Erie Basin auto pound and evidence warehouse seems a logical place to store hundreds of seized cars, thousands of guns and 9,846 barrels of evidence containing sensitive DNA material.

It is easy for the New York Police Department to safeguard the secluded bunker, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, from potential thieves.

But not, it turns out, from the surrounding water.

As Hurricane Sandy lashed the city, the surge breached the warehouse’s roll-top doors and hurtled hundreds — perhaps thousands — of its barrels into the wet muck. The storm wreaked similar havoc at another Police Department warehouse by the water, along Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Now, the damage is having an impact on the courts.

In at least six criminal trials in recent weeks, a police official has had to testify that evidence was inaccessible, but still existed, said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers said they were concerned that many more cases could emerge. “This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg,” said Steven Banks, chief lawyer for the Legal Aid Society.

Flooding destroyed criminal evidence

From the NY Times:

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Tuesday that facilities used for storing evidence in criminal cases suffered flooding during Hurricane Sandy.

“In some of our storage locations we have evidence that has been damaged,” Mr. Kelly told reporters Tuesday morning. “Significant flooding has taken place, no question about it.”

The damaged evidence may include DNA samples, he said.

Mr. Kelly said the property clerk facilities that experienced flooding were in Brooklyn, and at least one is in the Greenpoint neighborhood. It was not immediately clear whether the evidence at issue was being stored for use in pending prosecutions, or was in storage following convictions.

“We’re still trying to sort through this and assess the total damage,” he said.

Mr. Kelly said the damage to the evidence could potentially affect the outcome of individual criminal cases. “We’ll see,” he said.

DA Brown messes up yet again

From Eyewitness News:

...he was behind bars at Rikers, IDed by a witness who picked him out of a lineup.

He was charged with the attempted rape of a woman last September near a bus stop along the Cross Island Parkway in Whitestone.

A crime in progress was stopped by a former Marine who happened to be in the area.

A police sketch led police to the 41-year-old.

For 9 months, that question was hanging over his head. The Queens DA's office pressed forward with their case against him. It took 7 months before a DNA test was ordered.

DNA used to track down car stealer

From the Times Ledger:

A 29-year-old Astoria man was the first person charged in Queens as part of a federal DNA matching program after he is alleged to have stolen a Jeep in front of a home in April, the Queens district attorney said.

Gary Yerganian, of 30-71 34th St. in Astoria, was arraigned July 14 before Queens Criminal Court Judge Toko Serita on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle, Queens DA Richard Brown said.

The city Police Department began collecting DNA samples from stolen cars in Queens and Brooklyn March 1 as part of a federally funded program aimed at combating auto theft.

Yerganian was the first person charged in Queens under the pilot program.

The defendant, who was held on $100,000 bail, could face up to seven years in prison if convicted, the DA said.

DNA may save the day

From the Daily News:

Cops in Brooklyn and Queens last month began swabbing stolen cars for DNA, part of a $450,000 pilot program to combat auto theft.

The federally funded program - underway in New York and Dallas - could be launched citywide if successful.

Under the new program, officers are told not to enter stolen cars, according to an NYPD memo obtained by the Daily News.

Instead, they're supposed to request an evidence collection team who will swab the steering wheel, the rearview mirror and gear shift.

The samples will then be sent for testing, comparing the genetic samples against several databases.

Police officials hope to conduct DNA tests on about 500 cars.

Studies show the use of DNA in property crimes can double the number of arrests.

Child rapist caught via DNA

From NY1:

An alleged serial rapist was arraigned Thursday in Queens, after police linked the suspect's DNA evidence to at least two sexual assaults, including one on an 11-year-old girl.

Rosales pleaded not guilty in Queens Criminal Court to two counts of first-degree rape, and charges of sexual assault, robbery and burglary. He now faces up to 50 years in prison.

Officials say they obtained the DNA after Mauricio Rosales, 32, of Woodhaven was arrested and convicted of petty larceny in November, in connection to stealing money from the restaurant where he worked.

According to the Queens district attorney's office, back in 2000 Rosales allegedly snuck into a house near 86th Avenue and 98th Street in Richmond Hill and raped an 11-year-old girl at knifepoint in her own bedroom.

The other incident in 2003 involved the alleged rape and the robbery at knifepoint of a 19-year-old woman in her Queensboro Hill driveway.

In 2004, Brown indicted Rosales as "John Doe," using the two incidents' matching DNA in the hopes that the suspect would one day be arrested and to avoid the statute of limitations from running out.

Sources say Rosales's DNA was also a match with other cases, but that the statute of limitation ran out on those cases.

Brown said that about 46 percent of convicted criminals are required to give DNA samples, and that he is urging the state Legislature to require anyone convicted on a misdemeanor to submit a DNA sample.

Forest Park rapist caught

From the Queens Chronicle:

A man suspected of rape and sexual assault in Forest Park this year is in custody, police said.

Carl Wallace, 29, from Brooklyn, was arrested on Oct. 28 after cops suspected he is the same man responsible for at least one of the three sexual attacks that took place in or just outside the park within the past five months, the 102nd Precinct confirmed this week. Wallace was denied bail and has been charged with first-degree rape, predatory sexual assault, first-degree robbery and unlawful imprisonment in the first degree.

Wallace’s DNA was found to match that of a 29-year-old woman who was raped on Sept. 24 at around 3 a.m., according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. The victim was reportedly dragged at knifepoint to a wooded area near the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Park Lane South, where the defendant allegedly raped and threatened to stab her if she screamed. After the attack, the man stole cash, an iPod and identification from the victim’s bag before fleeing.