Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Jury Indicts Bronx Butcher

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Jury Indicts Bronx Butcher: BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced the indictment of a 23-year-old Bronx man, Bahsid McLean , for al...

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Jury Indicts Bronx Butcher

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Jury Indicts Bronx Butcher: BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced the indictment of a 23-year-old Bronx man, Bahsid McLean , for al...

Jury Indicts Bronx Butcher

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced the indictment of a 23-year-old Bronx man, Bahsid McLean, for allegedly murdering his mother and dissecting her body.

The grand jury has charged McLean, of 645 Westchester Avenue, with one count of murder in the second degree, one count of manslaughter in the first degree, and one count of Public Health Law 4210-A (Unlawful dissection of the body of a human being). The most serious offense, murder in the second degree, is a Class A-1 felony offense punishable by a maximum sentence life imprisonment.

The charges in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

It is alleged in court papers that between 6:00 p.m. on February 24, 2013 and 9:00 a.m. February 25, 2013 McLean caused the death of his mother Tanya Byrd, 45, by stabbing her in her apartment at 645 Westchester Avenue.

McLean is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment before State Supreme Court Justice Denis Boyle on Friday, April 26, 2013 in State Supreme Court, Part H-94.

A co-defendant William Harris has been charged with Hindering Prosecution in the first degree.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Raymond Valerio of the Domestic Violence Bureau.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Bank Robber Sought in Co-op City Caper

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Bank Robber Sought in Co-op City Caper: By David Greene  BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- Police are looking for the individual who calmly walked into a Co-op City Bank and made an e...

Bank Robber Sought in Co-op City Caper

By David Greene 

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- Police are looking for the individual who calmly walked into a Co-op City Bank and made an early-withdrawal--and if investigators catch up with him, he is headed for stiff penalties of up to 20 years behind bars.

Numerous sources say the individual walked into and robbed the Capital One Bank  located at 725 Co-op City Boulevard at about 4:30 p.m., on March 8. The suspect fled with an undetermined amount of cash.

One source stated the perpetrator dropped a bag he claimed was explosives, but turned out to be unfounded. The source's claim could not be immediately verified.

Police have not released a photo of the individual who was said to be a male Black in his 40s, wearing black gloves, a black mask covering his face, and he reportedly fled into the Municipal Credit Union parking lot. Witnesses reported the subject fled in a gray Mercedes Benz. No other details were immediately available.

Meanwhile, police have released a surveillance photo of a man who snatched a woman's purse as she was leaving a Bank of America on E. Fordham Road, at 9:30 p.m., on March 8.

Police say the 22-year old victim was thrown to the ground as the suspect took off with the woman's purse.

Police say the suspect in this case is in his mid 30s and is 5 foot 9 and was wearing a black jacket.

Anyone with information on either crime are asked to call CRIMESTOPPERS at (800) 577-TIPS, all calls remain confidential.

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): REBELS WITH A CAUSE

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): REBELS WITH A CAUSE: Rappers claim they were evicted to make way for yuppies By David Greene  BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- A community space serving hundreds of...

REBELS WITH A CAUSE

Rappers claim they were evicted to make way for yuppies

By David Greene 

BRONX, NEW YORK, March 13- A community space serving hundreds of teens and young adults each month and run by members of the popular rap trio, "Rebel Diaz," has been shut after being evicted from their Mott Haven loft.

According to members of the community space, known as the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective of the Bronx (RDACBX) members of the NYPD were joined by Federal marshals who raided the building on Austin Place on February 28.

According to Rodrigo Venegas, who performs under the name, RodStarz, "He (the landlord) openly said, 'I have no interest in working with the community.' He said, 'Personally, I want you out of here.'"

Venegas claims he and the landlord Austin Realty Group had a verbal agreement to start a new lease last November, when Venegas explains, "He increased it by 100 percent, he gave us a $1,000 increase out of nowhere. He even offered us money to get out of the space."

The reason behind the land grab Venegas claims, "The South Bronx is going through an abrupt process of gentrification that I think is sneaking up on a lot of us. A block away we have a 16-story condominium being built that is going to have one- bedroom apartments starting at $1,200 or $1,300. We have seen a rezoning of the West part of the Bronx by Yankee Stadium and we know that this part is next."

Venegas claimed that in more than three years since they began hosting concerts and open mic nights at the former abandoned factory, the police had never been called, not a single time for a disturbance.

Venegas concluded, "We are public enemy # 1 in these streets. Our young people are being hunted in these streets and you just closed a space that for the last three-and-a-half years was keeping young people off the streets."

The rebels admit the landlord was against some murals recently painted on the roof, visible to the nearby Bruckner Expressway, but say the hip-hop concerts; seminars and workshops have benefited the community, since they took over the space.

The group says they spent $8,000 on a new electrical system and installed a professional recording studio and a performance stage that through various programs and workshops, served between 500 and 700 teens and young adults each month.

Former member Karen Louviere, 19, recalled the invasion of the groups space, stating, "They came in with armed officers into what is suppose to be a safe space for the community. A space that has served as an alternative for young people in the area, helping develop their talents in a positive way."

Calls to the New Rochelle-based landlord were not immediately returned but in one published report, the landlord's attorney said it was, "nothing personal," for the group's ouster other than complaints from neighbors, graffiti and having not paid rent since September.

In response to the eviction, more than 150 supporters shutdown Austin Place during an illegal gathering the following evening as the group used the electric, they installed-- one last time. As a wire was run from their former space to a light and sound system where a deejay would spin records for the next several hours.

NYPD patrol cars circled the area, but never came down the street. The crowd eventually disbanded, but the group has vowed to find another location.