Unlicensed drunk driving murderer jumps bail

From CBS2:

Queens prosecutors are searching for an accused drunk driver who was arrested for killing a Lyft driver but jumped bail.

The victim’s grief-stricken wife is pleading with the suspect to turn himself in.

Police say just before 4 a.m. on Sunday, June 13, 47-year-old [Mohammed] Hossain was taking home a passenger in Maspeth, Queens, when 22-year-old Erik Chimborazo, of Brooklyn, T-boned Hossain’s SUV, killing the Lyft driver, a father of three.

Police arrested Chimborazo, who prosecutors say was unlicensed, uninsured and drunk when he ran a red light, plowing his black SUV into Hossain’s Toyota RAV4.

He was released on $10,000 bail.

The Queens district attorney’s office says the court ordered Chimborazo to surrender his passport from Ecuador.

When he didn’t show up for court Tuesday, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Tragedy strikes NYPD twice in Fresh Meadows

 

 

Queens Chronicle 

A highway officer was responding to a fiery car crash in the early hours of April 27 when he was struck and killed by an allegedly drunk driver.

Anastasios Tsakos, a 14-year NYPD veteran and father of two young children, was investigating the scene of an earlier, fatal collision at the time of the 2 a.m. incident.

“The absolutely tragic events of this past evening highlight, again, the many, many dangers our brave officers face every day and night — in all aspects of their critical work,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a press conference Tuesday morning, adding that the incident “amounted to a completely avoidable chain of events.”

According to police, Tsakos was one of many officers responding to a vehicle collision on the Long Island Expressway at the Clearview Expressway just 30 minutes past midnight. One of the vehicles was in flames.

Tsakos was diverting traffic from the scene, when 32-year-old Jessica Beauvais — who had a suspended license — came speeding along, police said. She swerved to avoid other cars and collided with Tsakos, who was standing next to his marked vehicle.

District Attorney Melinda Katz said Beauvais fled from the crash and attempted to exit the Horace Harding Expressway, where her car jumped the curb and mounted the sidewalk. Police surrounded her and she tried to flee again by putting the car in reverse but rammed into the police vehicle behind her twice before coming to a final stop and being apprehended.

Shea reported that Tsakos, who had been struck head on, was knocked onto a nearby grassy area. He was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens in critical condition, but was later pronounced deceased.

Beauvais, of Hempstead, LI, is being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on a 13-count complaint. The charges include two counts of vehicular manslaughter, drunk driving, colliding with an emergency vehicle and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Two hours after the crash, it was discovered that Beauvais’ blood alcohol content was 1.5 percent, the D.A.’s office said.

NY Post

If there was a silver lining to the tragic death of Denis Mullaney, the commanding officer of the 107th precinct in Queens who killed himself this week, it was the call to action made by the priest who officiated his funeral — where he implored the NYPD to do more to “break the silence” around suicides within their ranks.

Father Joseph Fonti, 54, told the mourners at the packed St. Mel’s Catholic Church in Flushing Friday that he was all too familiar with suicide, both within his own family and among his friends, some of whom are cops.

“People are fragile, they break,” Fonti told the crowd of roughly 250, including row after row of somber police officers. “If you suffer from cancer people run to you and they do anything for you. If you tell them you suffer from mental illness or anxiety they try but they get scared or they get uncomfortable.”

“We need to address it in our own families and in the church and in the Police Department. The police in particular have been so tight-lipped about this issue,” he urged. 

 Mullaney, 44, a 20-year police veteran, shot himself in his parked squad car Monday on Underhill Avenue near the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. He was the NYPD’s first suicide of 2021.

Typically four to five NYPD officers commit suicide every year. But when 10 officers killed themselves in 2019, the department under then-Commissioner James O’Neill instituted changes, such as allowing officers in crisis to keep their badges even while handing in their firearms to de-stigmatize asking for help. There were four NYPD suicides in 2020.

“The time for silence is over,” Fonti said.

Mullaney, who was made commander of the 107th precinct in Queens last fall, called one of his superiors as well as family members to warn them he was feeling suicidal and reportedly apologized in advance, police sources have told The Post.

‘”He knew he could call in a 10-13 – the code for an officer needing help,” his uncle Eddie Mullaney, 80, a retired NYPD policeman, said at the funeral. His fellow officers as well as members of the large Mullaney family, which includes several generations of police officers, would “have come running.”

“We would have called in our own 10-13,” the elder Mullaney said. “We had Denis’ back. He knew that.”

Instead Mullaney, who was going through a divorce from his wife, Amanda, a fellow police officer, and who had recently moved back into his childhood home with his widowed mother, “made a different choice,” his uncle told the congregation.

The normally upbeat Mullaney, who leaves behind a young son, Denis Patrick III, had reduced crime during his seven months at the precinct, but had been “hurting” for the past five or six weeks — and his despondency seemed to come on “quick,” his uncle said.

Drunk driver crashes into house, reveals illegal conversion

From NBC:

Witnesses said the driver, a 29-year-old woman identified by police as Shanna Shaw, got out of the vehicle wearing only her underwear. She seemed disoriented and under the influence.

"She was just screaming, just screaming," said A.J. "No words at all."

Police said the woman tried to leave the scene but was arrested. All of the injured are expected to survive.

But there are even more victims: A.J. and his family may have lost their home, since it's been deemed no longer safe to live in.

"We have to move or vacate the apartment until further notice," he said. "It takes a toll on everybody, but you gotta live through it, I guess."

A.J. and his family are staying with friends for now. The driver, Shaw, has been charged with driving while imparied and with two counts of fleeing the scene of an accident.

Attorney information for Shaw was not immediately clear.

Messages left for the building landlord were not immediately returned. The Department of Buildings said during investigation at the crash scene, they learned the home had been illegally converted and didn't have adequate egress. As a result, a partial vacate order was issued for the first floor and garage.

ICE cracking down on DUI offenders

From PIX11:

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more than two dozen undocumented immigrants during an operation cracking down on those with convictions for driving under the influence.

All but one of the 25 arrested in November had a previous DUI-related conviction, officials said. The other individual was arrested for immigration violations.

One of the men arrested, a 35-year-old previously removed Honduran man, also had been convicted of assault. A 40-year-old Salvadoran national has been identified as an alleged MS-13 gang member.

De Blasio thinks undocumented drunk drivers should be protected from deportation

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, nearly 10,000 Americans are killed each year as a result of drunk driving, or 27 people per day.

Another proud Queens moment

From the LIC Post:

A 25-year-old man, who was allegedly drunk, drove his car for a mile on the LIRR tracks in Long Island City Sunday before his vehicle struck a third rail and burst into flames, according to MTA Police.

Ronny Mora of Corona entered onto the LIRR at the Borden Avenue railroad crossing shortly after 11 pm and continued to drive on the tracks going east for about three quarters of a mile—past the LIRR’s Hunterspoint Avenue Station, according to police.

Police said Mora abandoned his car as it smoldered and finally caught fire. He then walked back to the crossing where he told LIRR employees that he was “sorry” he had left his vehicle on the tracks.

City: Knockdown Center investors "lack good character, honesty and integrity"

The Knockdown Center has a long way to go to clean up its act, but at least they're off to a slow start. The tarp covering the derelict scooter sitting outside their property has disappeared (but the scooter hasn't). Also now gone are 2 of the 3 illegal signs that were hanging on the fence.

Anyway, the posts I have authored about the Knockdown Center up to this point have been focused on the behavior that has gone on at the location and its physical condition. This time, I'm going to tell you about the main investors in the property - Tony and Gina Argento, who also happen to be owners of Broadway Stages in Greenpoint. Here's how certain elected officials feel about them:

From the Times Newsweekly:

City Council Member Helen Sears...vouched for [Tony] Argento as a “responsible” individual who “cares for the area.”

From the Daily News:

“I have known the owners for a long time. They also do good philanthropic work.” - Council Member Elizabeth Crowley

From Brooklyn USA:

"AND OF COURSE, THERE’S THE SIBLING SUPER DUO BEHIND BROADWAY STAGES, TONY – AND AS TONY KNOWS, MY FAVORITE – GINA ARGENTO, WHO ARE BOTH SO DEDICATED TO BROOKLYN’S FUTURE." - Borough President Marty Markowitz

But the glowing praise offered by Council Member Steve Levin takes the cake:

"When you talk about who gives back, between Tony and Gina and Paul, you're talking about 90% of what makes this community work sometimes."

Levin was speaking on behalf of Chris Olechowski, present Chair of CB1, Brooklyn at a fundraiser hosted by those lauded. (When Vito Lopez' proteges are praising someone, watch out!)

However, the Argentos are not as saintly as our elected representatives would like us to believe. Here's a dose of reality:

Luna Lighting Inc Denial

In case you don't have time to sift through the entire document, allow me to highlight the most relevant sections:



Somehow, caring for the area, doing good philanthropic work, being dedicated to Brooklyn's future and giving back 90% of what makes a community work seem to be lacking here. It's more like "see what you can get away with before getting caught, and then attempt damage control." It's what happened with Luna Lighting, and it's what's been happening at the Knockdown Center.

Speaking of which, just last Friday, the KDC received their blessing from the Dept of Buildings for a 5,000-person Place of Assembly as a gallery/exhibition hall, after supposedly having "withdrawn" the application.

CB5 was allegedly told that the reason for the initial rejection of their alteration permit was because KDC underestimated the cost of the work at $10,000. When questioned at a public hearing, KDC manager Tyler Myers stated that it was an "erroneous error" and would definitely be correct on the resubmitted paperwork. Owner David Sklar stated within the first 30 seconds of the below video that renovations would likely cost anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000:


Yet the second cost affadavit estimated the work at a paltry $25,000.

1) The Cost Affidavit requires the applicant to attest to the accuracy of the applicant’s estimate of the construction costs, which is the basis for the fees assessed by the DOB in connection with the application.
2) As the home renovation blog "Beating Upwind" states, "Normally [the Dept of Finance] is limited in how much they can jump your property taxes, but when you do substantial improvements that is the one time they’re allowed to bump the taxes up substantially – but only by the amount of improvements to the property."

Say no more.

Despite the ridiculous discrepancy between what the owner estimated his cost to be at the CB5 hearing and what was submitted on paper, DOB approved the application. I guess when the mayor schleps all the way to the rooftop of the main investors' place of business to hold press conferences, the Commissioner of DOB poses with them for photos, and local electeds are fawning over them, they're probably going to get what they ask for from DOB.

Keep in mind that these are people Liz Crowley considers to be "good friends" and is actively working to help them obtain a liquor license to open a 5,000-person capacity rave center across the street from her constituents' homes.

You the dope

This is quite stupid. But it comes from the geniuses at DOT, so we wouldn't expect anything different.

- Dumb slogan: "You the Man" (as if 1990s street lingo is appropriate for this campaign and women don't drink and drive).

- Hanukkah gelt, which is given to children, as part of anti-drunk driving campaign.

- Referral to car services disguised as public service announcement.

- This campaign being conducted in English is probably not going to be very effective.

A reader wrote to yours truly:

"Jeez, now the city's babysitting drunks?

Then again, it will help Bloombergers build a database of drunks, which probably has a lot of good blackmail-type uses.

If I had the energy, I would recruit a legion of homeless drunks to sign up for rides to JFK and back."

Dumb crime roundup

From the Queens Gazette:

Police arrested a 37-year-old Queens man on August 29 after he admitted he had had one too many before he got behind the wheel of his boss’ pickup truck.

“Yeah, I drank too mucho cerveza,” Juan Camacho told police after he drove the white pickup truck onto the lawn of a home on Astoria Boulevard and 48th Street and then into a fence at about 11:20 a.m.

Reeking of alcohol, Camacho told cops that he had been driving the pickup, police sources said.

Camacho was charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI), authorities said.

******************

Astoria police arrested a wrong-way drunken driver on the Grand Central Parkway (GCP) on August 26 after he slammed his car into another vehicle, sending five people to a local hospital.

Cops responding to a head-on collision on the GCP at the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway exit in Astoria at about 2:40 a.m. found Luis MacLeod, 30, in his 2003 Acura. MacLeod had just slammed the car into an Infiniti carrying a driver and six passengers.

MacLeod reeked of alcohol when police tried to question him about the crash, police sources said. He was charged with DWI and vehicular assault.

Police said five people in the Infiniti were taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries they suffered in the crash.

Also from the Queens Gazette:

Raphael Nyack, 27, and a friend had been drinking at the Puerto Vallarta Tapas Bar on 44th Street in Woodside until an argument with another patron got them tossed out by a bouncer at about 3:30 a.m. on August 30.

Cops said Nyack was furious about being thrown out of the bar and before he drove away he said to the bouncer, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to shoot this place up.”

Nyack returned to the bar about 10 minutes later, flashed a gun a the bouncer and said, “You want to back those guys? This is what you get!”

The bouncer raced back inside the bar to call police, with Nyack hot on his heels, waving the gun, police said. Nyack never fired the weapon.

Police arrived in time to arrest Nyack, who is charged with criminal possession of a weapon and other weapons related charges, authorities said.

And finally, from the Queens Gazette:

Police cited an August 24 incident where a motorist picked up a hitchhiker on Queens Boulevard and 74th Street in Elmhurst to illustrate their warning.

Cops said the driver picked up Richard Gangi, 41, and invited him to share the front seat of his car.

“This suspect waved down the motorist and asked for a ride home,” officials said. “Once he was settled in the car, he asked the motorist where he could score drugs and then asked him for cash to pay for them.”

Cops said the driver then told Gangi to get out of the car, an order he refused. “Mr. Gangi allegedly refused to leave and told the driver to give him the money, or he would ‘do it (his) way’,” police officials said.

When the driver refused to comply, Gangi grabbed the gearshift and threw the car into park, causing it to screech to a halt.

“He then reached over and grabbed the driver’s wallet from a center console,” police officials said. “The pair struggled briefly and the suspect bolted from the car, with the wallet.”

Police who responded to a 911 call obtained a description of Gangi and arrested him a short while later.

Drunk dad takes kid for ride on boardwalk

From the Daily News:

A drunken Queens dad cruised his car 30 blocks down the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk - with six kids in the back, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Renato Bernal, 41, had 1-1/2 times the legal alcohol limit when he almost hit a man on the pedestrian-only beach strip, then zoomed off Tuesday.

The Richmond Hill man was charged under the state's Leandra's Law, which makes it a felony to drive drunk with children in a car. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

"It's a miracle that no one was injured or killed," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. Among the six kids in the car were Bernal's two daughters, 16 and 14. There were also two 7-year-old nephews.

Bernal nearly struck James Beatty who was walking on the Boardwalk near Beach 73rd St. around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to prosecutors. Cops caught him 35 blocks away at Beach 108th St., a block from the Boardwalk.

"I was not driving anywhere near the Boardwalk," he told a cop. "I didn't have anything to drink."

Prosecutors say Bernal had bloodshot eyes, booze on his breath and registered a .122 on a blood-alcohol test, way above the .08 legal limit, they say.

DWI holiday weekend

From the Daily News:

Two men were in critical condition after a horrific wrong-way crash early Monday on the Long Island Expressway in Queens, police said.

Both vehicles exploded into flames following the 6 a.m. crash, when a silver Mercedes-Benz driven in the wrong direction by a hammered 30-year-old man slammed into an airport shuttle near the Utopia Parkway exit, police said.

The Bronx man had a sky-high blood-alcohol level of 1.9 - more than twice the legal limit, police sources said.

The driver, whose name has not been made public, was charged with driving while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and driving with a suspended license.

The Super Shuttle van, with a 64-year-old Long Island man at the wheel, carried no passengers.

Both drivers were pulled from the flaming wreckage and taken to New York Hospital Queens in Flushing with life-threatening injuries.

The crash closed eastbound lanes of the LIE in the area for hours.

From the NY Post:

The holiday-weekend horror unfolded on Corona Avenue in Elmhurst just before 7:30 p.m. when the two friends, 47 and 22, were removing items from their minivan.

"All of a sudden, this blue van came out of nowhere and it looked like he tried to swerve and he hit the two ladies," said Danny Rodriguez, 21. "They flew high in the air, at least seven feet."

The van's driver did not stop right away, Rodriguez said.

"It looked like he tried to park the car 100 feet away, but then he kept driving down Corona."

Several bystanders chased after the van to get him to stop, the witness said.

The 49-year-old driver was expected to be charged with driving while intoxicated and vehicular assault, the sources said.

The two women were rushed to Elmhurst Hospital in extremely critical condition.

A guy was shot in the head and killed in Howard Beach, too.

Lots of drunks in Corona

From the NY Post:

Corona, Queens, which shares a name with the popular Mexican beer, leads the city in drunk-driving arrests, NYPD statistics show.

There were 257 drunk-driving arrests so far this year in the 115th Precinct, which includes parts of Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.

Roosevelt Avenue, in the heart of the neighborhood, has 80 bars and booze-peddling restaurants attracting drivers from around the region.

"They are always drinking around here," said beauty-shop owner Maria Samaniego. "The reason why you have a lot of drunk driving around here is because you have a lot of bars."

While DWI busts have dropped over 8 percent citywide so far this year compared with the same period in 2009, arrests remained exactly the same in the 115th Precinct.

The neighboring 110th Precinct — which includes Elmhurst and the rest of Corona, with notoriously hard-to-find mass transit and yellow cabs — had 167 DWI arrests through June 6 for the city's second highest total.

Elmhurst and Corona have "notoriously hard-to-find mass transit"??? They have the 7, E, F, V and R as well as many bus lines...

Yellow cabs aren't usually around, but the gypsy cabs pick you up.

Nice try, but that's not the reason.

Illegals are killing and maiming Americans

From NJ.com:

...what about those New Jersey officials who failed to do anything about Rodolfo Godinez even after he was arrested following a bar fight months prior to those schoolyard murders in Newark?

Now he's on trial, accused of murders that might never have occurred if he'd been deported when he failed to prove his citizenship upon arrest.

As I've noted, I've spent years traveling around Latin America and had my papers checked more times than I can remember. It's a little nutty when Latin American leaders object to our government doing the same thing their government does.

From 1010WINS:

Cops on Long Island have arrested an alleged hit-and-run driver after four teenage pedestrians were run down near the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island.

The 16-year-old girls were preparing to cross Old Country Road Wednesday evening when they were struck by a Toyota Camry that had jumped a curb.

Two of the girls landed on the hood of the car and were screaming as they were carried for a short stretch before being thrown to the roadway, police said.

Witnesses told police the car stopped twice before leaving the scene.

The suspect, 26-year-old Elias Garcia, of Hempstead, was to appear in court in Mineola on Thursday to face charges of assault, reckless driving and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Police say Garcia is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. He was apparently driving without a license and may now face deportation.

The most seriously injured girl received 170 stitches in her head. The other three were also treated at area hospitals for less serious injuries, police said.

JFK drunk driver kills 2

From the NY Post:

A speeding drunk driver with a bottle of Hennessy in the front seat clipped a Delta employee's car, then crashed into a tree and flipped over this morning — killing his two passengers after he swerved around a car at Kennedy Airport, Port Authority police said.

The driver of the 2005 Volkswagen Passat, Itwaru Deo, 23, fled the 1 a.m. carnage but was arrested a short time later by Port Authority Police Officer Bobby Citko.

Police sources said the driver, blew a .132 Breathalyzer test, nearly twice the legal alcohol limit of .08.

A neighbor said the suspect’s father works for the NYPD, but was not a cop.

Deo allegedly tried to go around a Chevy Colbalt driven by Elizabeth Santiago, 24, of Brooklyn, at the intersection of the North Service Road and the exit ramp for the Northbound Van Wyck Expressway, then lost control of his car.

Instead he sideswiped the back of her car and slammed into a tree and a traffic sign at such speed his Passat flipped over killing passengers Ryan Adrian Persaud, 19, of Richmond Hill and Ramesh Dhanraj, 25, of Jamaica.

NYPD narc arrested for drunk driving in Woodside

From the Daily News:

An off-duty cop was driving drunk when he crashed into a parked car in Queens, police said.

Officer Matthew Woods was charged with driving while intoxicated in the Thursday night wreck in Woodside, said Sgt. Kevin Hayes, an NYPD spokesman.

Woods, who is assigned to the narcotics bureau, crashed on 65th Place between Woodside Ave. and Queens Blvd. There were no injuries, Hayes said.

The News reported last week that since 1999, at least 55 active duty cops have been charged with drunken driving while on the force. All pleaded down to non-felony charges and nearly all remained on the job.

That includes a sergeant who seriously injured passengers in another car, another charged with resisting arrest, and four cops who had drunken-driving convictions before joining the force.

Is Powell getting special treatment?

From the NY Times:

Even by the standards of New York’s sluggish court system, the drunken-driving case against Mr. Powell has seemed to drag on forever.

Last week was the second anniversary of Mr. Powell’s arrest in Manhattan on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated, and the case — which is on the calendar for Monday — has yet to be resolved.

One reason for the delay is that, unlike most people facing similar charges, Mr. Powell has refused to accept a plea deal, deciding instead to go to trial.

Some of the other reasons are typical of most trials: a dispute over the exchange of evidence, the defense lawyer having other cases to tend to and the unavailability of key witnesses. But Mr. Powell’s job has also been a factor.

In at least two instances, the start of the trial was delayed because Mr. Powell had to be in Albany for special sessions convened by the governor. On other occasions, Mr. Powell’s lawyer told the judge that several dates would not work because of Mr. Powell’s work commitments, including a 10-day period in October in which Mr. Powell had to go on a mission overseas.

Several defense lawyers said that judges might give lawyers’ clients an adjournment or two because of their clients’ work schedules. But some wondered if Mr. Powell’s case bordered on preferential treatment.

Drunk driver that killed 2 gets 7 1/2 years

From the Times Ledger:

The drunk driver who mowed down a 16-year-old Middle Village teen and his friend in a stolen car a year ago has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for killing them, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Kenneth Guyear, 28, of Middle Village, pleaded guilty last month to vehicular manslaughter. Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt sentenced him Tuesday to between 7 1/2 and 15 years behind bars, the maximum sentence allowed.

“The defendant’s decision to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking alcohol ended with the deaths of two young people and with him going to prison for a substantial period of time,” Brown said in a statement. “Perhaps his time behind bars will allow him to reflect on what all motorists should know: Do not drink and drive. Ever.”

Sorry, but 7 1/2 years is not enough for taking 2 lives.

He'll be taking a different kind of joyride now...

Queens DWI slayer gets 15 years
By WILLIAM J. GORTA, NY Post

A Queens man pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter yesterday for stealing an idling car and drunkenly killing two pedestrians.

Kenneth Guyear mowed down Robert Ogle, 16, and Alex Paul, 20, last Feb. 1 as they crossed a street in Middle Village.

He admitted he had consumed five or six drinks and two Xanax pills before stealing the car, which had been left idling outside a deli with the keys in the ignition.

Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt said she would sentence Guyear, whose blood-alcohol level after the slayings measured .126 percent, to the maximum term of 7½ to 15 years in prison.

Cops initially charged Guyear with first-degree assault, which carries a sentence of up to 25 years.

Guyear still faces a civil lawsuit filed by Robert's parents, Brendan and Mei Ogle.

I bet he now wishes he were successful at taking himself out last year.

How many things are disturbing about this story?

From the Daily News:

As Nathaniel Chambers was arraigned, prosecutors said the Department of Homeless Services driver was visibly blitzed when he was stopped on the Triborough Bridge on Friday.

Thank you, Daily News, for calling the bridge by its real name.

As the Daily News reported, Chambers was on his way to pick up Commissioner Robert Hess to take him to City Hall for the inauguration.

Why does the Commissioner of Homeless Services have a driver?

Hess has worked for the agency for nine years - and he was employed there when he was busted for DWI in 2003 and paid a $750 fine.

Homeless Services spokeswoman Linda Bazerjian couldn't explain how someone with a DWI conviction could be employed as a driver.

No comment.

Chambers refused to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene, but cops held the device in front of his mouth when he spoke and it registered a blood-alcohol content of .089 - just above the legal limit.

If the suspect refuses the test and the police try to take it anyway without his consent, it's most likely going to get tossed in court.

Already 5 murders in first 2 days of 2010!

B'klyn pool hall murder is city's 5th of the year
By JOHN DOYLE, NY Post

An argument in a backroom pool hall in Brooklyn turned into the city’s fifth homicide of the New Year late this afternoon.

Police say that around 4 p.m., gunfire erupted in the backroom of Maria’s Grocery on Broadway near Hooper Street in Williamsburg.

One man, who has not yet been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Three other men were taken to the nearby 90th precinct for questioning. Police sources described all four men, including the deceased, as Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Here's a quick recap of the others. Only the one above involved a gun.

Number 1
Number 2
Number 3
Number 4