Questions surround deadly Queens police shooting

Web produced by Bill King, Eyewitness NewsQUEENS (WABC) -- There are more questions than answers after a deadly police shooting in Queens early Thursday left an unarmed National Guardsman dead.

Noel Polanco, 22, was shot and killed by an officer on the Grand Central Parkway, near LaGuardia Airport, during a traffic stop around 5 a.m.

Now, his mother is speaking out, asking why her son had to die.

"I'm going to continue to make sure that his name does not get taken down by mud," Cecilia Reyes said. "They took him from me, and this is not going to stay like this. They're not going to make my son out to be the bad guy, because he's not."

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has not yet spoken about the case, which appears to be very complicated for everyone involved.

Minutes before the shooting, surveillance video recorded Polanco and friends leaving the Ice Bar in Astoria. Investigators say Polanco got onto the parkway and began weaving in and out of lanes.

Dianne DiFerrari was in the passenger seat when she says Polanco cut off two unmarked police cars. She says one of them pulled up next to their Honda, and one man began screaming obscenities through her open window.

When they pulled over, she she says heavily armed men surrounded them. She says she had no idea they were officers until she heard the pop of the shot that killed her friend.

"He was shot intentionally, no doubt in my mind," she said. "Because there was no reason to even have your guns drawn the way they did. All you had to do was pull him over, ask him for his freaking license and registration and take him to jail. There was no reason for this innocent kid to be killed."

The officer who was involved in the shooting has been identified as 39-year-old Hassam Handy, who has been on the force for quite some time.

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Queens restaurant takes horse meat off menu

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- A New York City restaurant has bowed to pressure from animal lovers and taken horse meat off the menu.

The New York Times reports that the owners of M. Wells Dinette had planned to serve horse tartare at their restaurant that recently opened inside a museum in Queens.

Chef and co-owner Hugue Dufour announced his plan in a magazine interview. Then 1,300 animal-welfare advocates signed petitions on Change.org demanding that he take horse meat off the menu.

In a statement Thursday, Dufour and the other owners said they would not serve horse because the idea upset so many people. They said that surprised them.

Dufour said he served 5,000 grilled cheese sandwiches that included horse meat at a food festival in Brooklyn in May.

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Off-duty cop charged with DUI after Queens crash

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- An off-duty NYPD officer is accused of driving drunk after she allegedly hit several parked cars in Queens early Tuesday morning.

Police say 38-year-old Meenawatti Chandrekha lost control of her vehicle in the Ozone Park section just after 3 a.m.

Her vehicle struck at least four cars parked on the street.

Authorities say she then fled the scene, but neighbors who heard the commotion had come outside to see what had happened.

"We were trying to stop her and she said, 'Oh, don't worry, I'm a police officer,'" eyewitness Lalita Munesser said. "I thought she was lying. But then she put her badge and stuck it on the window. And everything happened when she's running away."

Chandrekha is charged with DWI and leaving the scene of an accident.

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Cop stabbed several times at home in Queens

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- A police officer was stabbed multiple times in the Jamaica section of Queens.

The stabbing took place at a house on 170th Street.

The officer was taken to Jamaica Hospital, in unknown condition.

Police say they are looking for two suspects.

For more on this breaking story, stay with 7online and Eyewitness News.

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Suspected cop shooter surrenders in Queens

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Police say a man suspected of shooting an NYPD sergeant in the legs last month has surrendered to authorities.

Police say 24-year John Thomas, of Queens, was taken into custody by detectives while accompanied by his lawyer. It happened at about 7 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of a Pep Boys store in Queens.

NYPD Sergeant Craig Bier, 44, was shot in both legs while working with an anti-gang unit in the Jamaica section of Queens the night of August 8. Authorities say a Ruger .09-mm pistol was recovered behind a building on 107th Avenue, not far from where Bier was shot while chasing the suspect.

The 15-year veteran was hospitalized in stable condition and released a few days later.

The manhunt for Thomas went on for more than a month after police found his apartment keys at the scene and his fingerprints on the ammo clip of the gun used in the shooting.

Authorities searched his home in a Queens housing project and hundreds of addresses across five states.

Thomas is charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.

(The Associated Press contributed to this article)

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Queens toddler survives 13-foot fall from patio

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- A toddler in Queens is recovering after he survived a 13-foot fall that ended with him landing on his head on concrete.

The 18-month-old boy apparently got onto a second-story patio through a partially open screen door at his home in Sunnyside.

He climbed a 3-foot iron fence and fell onto the stoop below.

He is listed in serious condition at Elmhurst Hospital.

His mother was home at the time.

No charges have been filed.

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Police investigating burning body found in Queens

WOODHAVEN (WABC) -- Firefighters responding to a park fire in Queens Saturday discovered a dead body.

They arrived on the scene following a 911 call of a rubbish fire along the southern tier of Forest Park.

The firefighters discovered that the burning trash was actually a man's body that had been set on fire.

The body was found just north of Park Lane South and 86th Street in the Woodhaven section of Queens.

EMS responded and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

There is still no word on the man's identity or the cause of death. An autopsy will be performed on Sunday.

Investigators spent the day searching the woods for clues.

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Suspect robs Queens bank dressed as UPS worker

  Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- The FBI is hoping some surveillance photos will help them catch a man who robbed a Queens bank dressed as a UPS worker.

The FBI is hoping some surveillance photos will help them catch a man who robbed a Queens bank dressed as a UPS worker.

It happened at the Sovereign Bank located at 75-15 31st Avenue in Jackson Heights Friday at approximately 9:40 a.m.

The suspect walked into the bank, holding a gun to an employee's back while demanding cash from the tellers.

The suspect demanded $20,000 in large denominations.

He was given an undisclosed amount of cash and was last seen fleeing west on 31st Avenue and then north on 75th Street.

The suspect is described as a black or Hispanic male, early 30s, 5'6'' to 5'8'' tall, and approximately 170 to 180 pounds.

He has black facial hair and was seen in a seasonal UPS uniform, consisting of a brown jacket and brown pants.

He was also wearing a red baseball hat and sun glasses. He had a silver revolver.

A significant reward is available for a tip that breaks the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI immediately at 212-384-1000.

As always, tipsters may remain anonymous.

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'Molotov cocktail' thrown at Queens mosque, home

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- Firefighters say someone threw what appears to be a Molotov cocktail at a mosque in Jamaica, Queens.

It happened at the Imam Al-Khoei Islamic Center on the Van Wyck Expressway.

A small fire broke out as a result, but was put out by the time firefighters arrived at the scene.

Police are investigating.

So far they've made no arrests.

Nearby, a Jamaica resident says someone threw two Molotov cocktails at his home at 89th Avenue and 170th Street.

A small fire was quickly put out by the fire department and there were no injuries.

Police are also investigating an incident in which a glass bottle filled with a fire accelerant was left on a counter at a bodega on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica.

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Chilling video released in Queens attempted rape

  Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- Police in Queens are searching for a suspect wanted for two rapes and an attempted rape in Jamaica.

The first rape happened on October 13 at 3 a.m. near Merrick Boulevard.

Police say the suspect grabbed the 20-year-old victim from behind, forced her behind a dumpster at the location and raped her.

The second rape happened on November 15 at 1 a.m. near 142nd Street.

In that incident, police say the suspect stated to the 27-year-old victim that he had a gun before forcibly raping her.

The third incident, which was caught on surveillance video, took place on December 7 at 2 a.m. near 154th Street.

The video shows the suspect walking up behind the woman and placing a sharp object to her back. Police say he then pulled her behind a residence and attempted to rape her. She fought back and was able to escape.

The suspect is described as a black man between the ages of 25 and 30. He is approximately 5-foot-5 and weighs about 220 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a black pull over hooded sweatshirt and a white and blue striped scarf.

Anyone with information in regards to any of these incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

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Surveillance released of Queens robbery suspects

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- Police are looking for the suspects in two armed robberies in Queens.

Surveillance video from a business shows the three men on the street.

One of them had a black semi-automatic handgun.

They demanded cash and a cell phone from a woman, and later a man.

Both incidents happened on the evening of December 1 on Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria.

No one was injured.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

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Sketch released in attack on woman in Queens

  Eyewitness NewsQUEENS (WABC) -- NYPD is looking for three men who attacked and raped a woman in the Astoria section of Queens.

According to police, the 20year-old woman was walking in the vicinity of Vernon Boulevard and 10th Street when she was grabbed from behind by two of the suspects.

They pulled the victim into a parking lot in between two vehicles and held her down while the third suspect raped her before fleeing.

The victim was taken to an area hospital for treatment and released.

Investigators said she could not identify the two men who grabbed her.

A sketch of the third suspect was released. He is described as being a M/W, 25-30 years of age, 5'10" with dirty blonde hair and light colored eyes.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

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Mom injured, daughter fatally shot in Queens

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Gunfire has killed a daughter and wounded a mother inside an apartment building in the Astoria section of Queens.

Guerino Annarumma left the 114th precinct in handcuffs, sources say, to help police find the gun that was used to shoot his estranged wife and to kill her daughter.

He is the lone suspect and police and neighbors say he has a history of violence and threats against his wife.

"We saw him drive, I ignored him," a neighbor said.

But the courts did not.

"This as the order of protection I have," said Helene Sherman, Olga Annarumma's divorce attorney.

Helene Sherman is Olga's divorce attorney.

There were two orders of protection issued against Guerino Annarumma regarding his wife.

. "She wanted nothing, she would just say 'he's crazy,'" Sherman said.

A neighbor threw a Piece of cardboard over the bloodstains left after 57-year-old Olga Borodina Annarumma, Guerino's estranged wife, and her daughter 25-year-old Valeria Kuzmina Lowery were shot at their home Monday morning.

Neighbors say Guerino Annarumma had a violent and contentious relationship with the two.

Guerino didn't hide his contempt or his intentions.

In several blogs, he ranted about the two: "God will make you pay," he wrote in one.

And in another, "Remember one thing. Whatever goes around comes around. One day it will come to you and your mother, I don't have nothing to lose," he wrote, "You are going to pay for whatever you did. I don't play no games," he wrote cryptically, "Good luck. Bye bye."

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Grandmother struck by van in Queens

OZONE PARK (WABC) -- A grandmother is fighting for her life after two vans collided in Queens.

The force of the impact sent one of the vans careening through the intersection and onto the sidewalk.

The victim, a 53-year-old woman, was left sprawled across the pavement, gasping for breath and covered in blood.

Family members say she was waiting on the corner to cross the street, on her way to pick up her grandchildren from school.

The accident happened at 103rd Avenue and 93rd Street in Ozone Park.

There is a stop sign on each corner, but witnesses told police the van ran one of them and ended-up on the sidewalk after it was struck broadside by another vehicle.

Neighbors say it's not only tragic, it's infuriating because it happens all the time.

We watched tonight as drivers routinely barreled through the intersection without stopping-or looking.

It happened over and over and over again, barely three hours after the blood and car parts from this latest crash had been cleared from the street.

The van came to rest on the doorstep of 85-year-old Anita Bajardi, whose insurance company installed steel poles to protect her home because accidents are so common.

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Fillpino cooking in Queens

WOODHAVEN (WABC) -- It's a family-friendly restaurant in Queens where the price is always right.

Meena Prego may have begun by cooking rice as a kid, but she's come a long way featuring Fillipino home cooking at her restaurant, Mama Meena's Family Restaurant in Woodhaven.

She opened the restaurant after lots of prodding by her friends three years ago.

The restaurant is located at 94-20 Jamaica Avenue between 94th & 95th Streets.

For more info, please call (718) 696-8882.

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RECIPE:

Chicken in Coconut Milk

3 lbs whole chicken, cut in pieces
1 ? cup of coconut milk, set aside half cup for later use (as it sits, it will form a cream on top, this is what will be referred to as coconut cream)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 bay leaves
2 TBS ginger, minced
1 stalk lemongrass cut into 3 inch slices
1-2 Tiger chili (optional)
3 TBS fish sauce
1/2 cup green and red bell peppers, sliced into strips
Salt & pepper taste
Spinach (sauteed - you can use this to plate)

Directions:
In deep pan (that has a cover) heat cooking oil, add garlic, onion, ginger and lemongrass.

Saute one minute then add chicken, brown for about 5 minutes, and then add one cup coconut milk, chili, bay leaves and fish sauce. bring to boil for several minutes and then cover and reduce heat. Cook over low heat 20-30 minutes, stirring every so often.

Then remove cover, add bell peppers and the coconut cream. Bring to rapid boil for 2 minutes.

Serve on top of bed of sauteed spinach and rice. Salt and pepper if desired.

Serves 4 people

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