New York, New Jersey, Connecticut News: speaks

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Saturday, 22 September 2012

Victim speaks out about McDonald's slashing

Matt Kozar, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- The victim of a hate crime slashing in Greenwich Village is speaking out about what led to the attack.

24-year-old Jamar McLeod told Eyewitness News he was uncomfortable talking on-camera about what happened to him, how he was attacked, both verbally and physically.

But he and his girlfriend agreed their story was an important one to tell, how deep seeded hatred can be so dangerous.

His scars were caused by hate.

Doctors used stitches to close Jamar McLeod's wounds to his neck and elbow.

The gash on his face shows just how close his attacker came to cutting his neck.

"If it could have been a couple inches over, God forbid he could have hit my jugular vein and I could have been dead," McLeod said.

McLeod was slashed Wednesday night outside a McDonald's in Greenwich Village, one of the city's most tolerant neighborhoods.

He says it all started when a man hurled gay slurs at him and his girlfriend, Jaslisa Griffin, who is transgendered.

"He said sir, you're going to the wrong bathroom, the men's bathroom is over here," Griffin said.

Upset that Griffin was using the women's bathroom, the couple says the man taunted them inside the McDonald's and then followed them outside where they say the verbal assault escalated into a physical one.

"Out of nowhere he pulled out a straight razor," Griffin said.

"He sliced me in the back of the neck, and then when I backed up a bit, he sliced me on my face," McLeod said.

NYPD Hate Crimes is leading the investigation.

They say the suspect is a black male around 35 to 40 years old, about 5'10", and between 300 and 350 pounds.

While his weapon was sharp, McLeod says the man's words hurt just as much. "We're all human beings. It doesn't matter what sexuality what race, we're just human beings, so you should be able to respect the person for who he is," McLeod said.

This is the same McDonald's where a year ago an employee and a customer brawled behind the counter.

The owner has since added more security and cameras and has closed the upstairs portion at night.

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new york city, manhattan, greenwich village, hate crime, stabbing, new york news

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Monday, 17 September 2012

Amanda Bynes pulled over for driving on suspended license; Lindsay Lohan speaks out on Twitter

Amanda Bynes was pulled over Sunday morning near Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, for driving with a suspended license. Her car was impounded, but she was not arrested or detained.

Bynes, a former child star who has appeared in the movies "Hairspray" and "Easy A," lost her driving privileges following a DUI arrest in West Hollywood and charges in two separate hit-and-run accidents. Bynes, 26, is due in court for a pretrial hearing on Friday.

Following Sunday's incident, fellow actress Lindsay Lohan, who has had few of her own run-ins with the law over the past few years, offered little sympathy over Twitter.

"Why did I get put in jail and a nickelodeon star has had NO punishment(s) so far?" Lohan tweeted.

Bynes also was recently photographed by TMZ, in her car, smoking out of a pipe, which appeared to contain marijuana.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has confirmed that Bynes' driver's license was suspended, but it did not indicate the specific reason for the suspension or when it took effect.

The actress was recently charged with two counts of hit-and-run and could be sent to jail for up to a year. No one was injured in the actress' reported crashes. A Los Angeles City Attorney's office spokesperson said in a statement obtained by OTRC.com that the two hit-and-run charges, which are misdemeanors, were filed on September 4 and that Bynes is scheduled to be arraigned on September 27. She was sent a voluntary appearance letter on Wednesday, September 5. She has not commented about the charges.

Authorities say the first suspected hit-and-run took place in April. A person told police that Bynes rear-ended their car on a Los Angeles highway and fled the scene. She was not arrested.

The incident occurred days after she was booked for allegedly driving drunk and crashing into a cop car. She pleaded not guilty to DUI in June.

Prosecutors had reopened the first suspected hit-and-run case after a second one surfaced in early August. A Los Angeles woman filed a police report in which she claimed that Bynes rear-ended her on a busy street in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles and fled the scene. Bynes has not commented.

The actress faces a maximum punishment of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each hit-and-run count. If convicted of both, she could serve her jail time consecutively. Also, her DUI case carries a maximum sentence of six months behind bars. In Los Angeles, most non-violent offenders are released from custody early due to overcrowding.

The actress rose to fame as a child star with the Nickelodeon series "All That," which aired between 1996 and 2002. She also portrayed Taffy on the animated series "Rugrats" and starred opposite Colin First and Kelly Preston in the teen romantic comedy "What a Girl Wants." Between 2002 and 2006, she appeared on the sitcom "What I Like About You" with Jennie Garth.

She then starred in the movie "She's The Man," playing a college girl who disguises herself as her twin brother so she can play on a men's soccer team. Channing Tatum portrayed her love interest. Bynes also played pig-tailed Penny Pingleton in the musical film "Hairspray."

In June 2010, she announced on Twitter she had quit acting. A month later, she said she had "unretired," just ahead of the release of her latest film, the comedy "Easy A." She played a conservative student named Marianne opposite main star Emma Stone.

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Thursday, 21 June 2012

Mom who lost kids, parents in Stamford fire speaks out

Lilly, 10, and twins Sarah and Grace, 7, Badger died in a house fire in Stamford on Christmas Day 2011.

Eyewitness NewsSTAMFORD -- The woman whose three daughters and parents died in a Christmas Day fire said she considered putting fireplace ashes blamed for the blaze outdoors about an hour before flames swept through the home.

But Madonna Badger said in an interview aired Thursday on NBC's "Today" show that the bag of ashes didn't seem dangerous because her boyfriend, Michael Borcina, ran his hands over them before putting them on top of a plastic bin in a mudroom. She said she glanced at the bag as she walked up the stairs on the way to bed early that morning.

"I remember thinking to myself, 'I should put that outside. I should put that outside,'" Badger said. "Then I remembered thinking, 'No, but I watched him put his hands through it.'" The fire in Stamford killed 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah Badger, 9-year-old Lily Badger, and their grandparents Lomer and Pauline Johnson. Badger disputed an Associated Press report that the ashes were taken out of a fireplace so the children would not worry about Santa Claus coming down the chimney. The AP reported on Jan. 3 that the ashes were removed out of concern for Santa, citing two officials briefed on the investigation.

"I don't know where that came from," Badger said.

About an hour after going to bed, Badger awoke to choking smoke and frantically tried to find her children. She climbed up scaffolding that was installed outside the home for a renovation project and opened a window to Grace's bedroom.

"I opened that window and the smoke that hit me was just the blackest ... like an ocean," she said in the interview, in which she broke down crying several times. "There was embers and all kinds of stuff in it."

Badger, a New York City advertising executive, said she tried several times to hold her breath and put her head in the window, but the smoke was too much.

"I couldn't get in the window and I'm just screaming for somebody to help me," she said, adding that she couldn't see Grace or the other girls. "It was the blackest smoke I've ever seen. If I could have seen them, I would have gone in.

"It's impossible to describe how it is that you can't go in and save your own children, but I couldn't get through that smoke. I couldn't," she said.

She said she then saw Borcina - his eyes burned shut - running around the yard yelling for the girls and telling them to jump to him from upper floors. She said firefighters dragged her away from the home for her safety.

Badger was brought to a hospital and said it took three hours for a doctor to tell her that her children had died and her parents probably wouldn't survive, either.

Asked whether the house had working smoke alarms, Badger said, "My understanding was that I had an operable fire and smoke alarms." When she was awoken by the fire, she said she didn't hear any alarms going off.

"Nothing. It was silent," she said.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THECHRISTMAS DAY FIRE

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connecticut, stamford, fire, northern suburbs news

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Tuesday, 1 May 2012

Zuckerberg speaks exclusively with ABC News

News) wants to make it easier for its nearly 1 billion members to sign up to become organ donors. In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today the addition of a new tool on Facebook that will allow users to share their organ donor status with their friends.

Users can add that they are organ donors to their Facebook timeline, and share their story about when, where or why they decided to become donors. If a user is not already officially registered as an organ donor, the new feature gives them a link to the appropriate donor registry in their state.

The new tool lets Facebook users click a button on their timelines to indicate that they want to be organ donors in the event of their death. They can also post a status or video explaining why they made that decision.

Here's how the tool works:

Users can go to their timeline, click on "Life Event," select "Health and Wellness," and add the new option "choose Organ Donor." Then they can add where and when they registered and include a personal story, picture or video.

Zuckerberg told ABC News' Robin Roberts that the initiative aims to bring the power of social media to a problem that continues to plague organ transplantation -- too many people who need organs and not enough who donate.

"What we hope will happen is that by just having this simple tool, we think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends," Zuckerberg said. "That can be a big part of helping solve the crisis that's out there."

Currently, there are more than 114,000 Americans waiting for kidneys, livers, hearts and other vital organs that could save their lives, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. But only a small percentage of those patients actually find suitable donors and get the transplants they need. Just over 28,000 organ transplants were performed in 2011. Every day, an estimated 18 people die waiting for an organ transplant.

The problem is a familiar one to Dr. Andrew Cameron, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and one of the inspirations for Facebook's new donor status option. He has witnessed the supply-and-demand problem that leaves many patients without the organs they desperately need.

Cameron, who graduated from Harvard College, wrote about the shortage of organs for transplant in his Harvard Reunion Class report, a book in which alumni can tell old friends what they've been doing since graduation. Cameron was about to go to his 15th reunion.

One of the former classmates who read Cameron's entry was his college friend Sheryl Sandberg, soon to be Facebook's chief operating officer.

"Well, fast forward to just under a year ago, at our 20th reunion, Sheryl was now COO at Facebook, and with this really powerful communication tool in hand, we crossed paths again," Cameron told ABC News. "She said, 'I remember what you wrote last time and I think Facebook can help with the problem of organ donation.'"

They talked about using the power of Facebook for communication to let people share their wish to be organ donors, just as they already share their birthdays, new jobs or what they had for lunch.

Surveys have shown that most Americans support organ donation, but only about 40 percent of the adult population register as organ donors. Cameron said he thinks the shortfall is the result of a communications problem that a button on a Facebook profile could help solve.

"I think it's possible that we will see an impact over the next couple of years, where we would imagine eliminating the transplant waiting list," Cameron told ABC News. "We've got 100,000 people waiting. Each donor can help three or four of those waiting. If we could do twice as well as we're doing now, if we could get another 10,000 donors a year, I think we could have that transplant waiting list down to almost nothing in three or four years. That would be a spectacular moment in medical history and in the history of public health."

The hope is that bringing a social aspect to organ donation will help people think carefully about their decision and share it with others.

"There have been so many public health campaigns to get people to sign up to be organ donors. Unfortunately, they just haven't been very successful," said ABC News' chief health and medical editor, Dr. Richard Besser. "This Facebook initiative is absolutely ingenious. Imagine what happens if signing up to be a donor goes viral and becomes a cool thing to do? Problem solved!"

Friday, 23 December 2011

Sen. Schumer speaks out on Transit Hub fireproofing

Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- There are calls for action after an Eyewitness News investigation reveals the Port Authority has decided not to fireproof a large portion of the new Transit Hub at the World Trade Center site.

There are calls for Governors Cuomo and Christie to step in and force the Port Authority to fireproof the Transit Hub that will be used by some 200,000 people every day.

The Port Authority's decision to cut-out costly fireproofing for a major part of the massive steel World Trade Center Transit Hub drew a quick and angry response from a Deputy FDNY Chief of 31 years.

"It's appalling that they could even consider that. It's the number 1 terrorist target; you have 200,000 people every day. They are putting money ahead of lives and safety and I think it's a disgrace," said Jim Riches, a Deputy FDNY Chief (ret.)

Recently retired, Jim Riches not only responded to the towers on 9/11, he also lost his firefighter son when the North Tower collapsed sooner, some experts say, than it should have because of inadequate fireproofing.

Eyewitness News' investigation reveals most of the winged structure of the transit center will have no fireproofing.

The Port Authority decided it is unnecessary after conducting tests based on a fire equal to "Two-to-three closely spaced passenger cars."

A fire safety expert with John Jay College says the testing is seriously flawed.

"As a former code enforcement official I wouldn't have accepted it. I think again they would have had to demonstrate much larger worse case scenarios that are really unfortunately very possible here at ground zero," said Glenn Corbett, a fire safety expert.

A year ago, when Eyewitness News began investigating safety issues at the transit hub, the Port Authority's then Executive Director Chris Ward insisted that it would be fireproofed.

"The Port Authority has the highest standards for the safety of all its facilities. We wouldn't compromise a structure like the Transit Hub in terms of fireproofing in the least," said Chris Ward, Fmr. Port Authority Executive Director.

What's changed since then? Mostly huge cost overruns which one source tells Eyewitness News played a part in eliminating the $25 million dollar fireproofing job.

But the Port Authority insists, "The high volume of the space and robustness of the (steel) structure,'' means the center will "meet or exceed" city building codes.

New York's Senior Senator says, where's the common sense?

"Seems to me in a place that's going to have tens of thousands of people and a great deal of danger that it ought to be fireproofed," Sen. Charles Schumer said.

"They're endangering everyone's lives and they're lying to the public and I'll say that and Gov. Christie and Gov. Cuomo should get involved," Riches said.

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If you have a tip about this or any other issue you'd like investigated, please give our tipline a call at 877-TIP-NEWS. You may also e-mail us at the.investigators@abc.com.

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ground zero, world trade center, investigations, jim hoffer

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Man wrongly arrested for sex assault speaks out

NEW YORK (WABC) -- He was known as the Brooklyn groper but William Giraldo says it wasn't him.

Giraldo was captured on surveillence video as the suspect in a series of rapes.

After being jailed and sent to Rikers, DNA evidence later cleared him of the crimes.

"They ruined my life. I should have never been in jail," he said.

But his life, is in shambles.

He has no job, and money is quickly running out.

"If you google my name there's a lot of negativity."

In June Giraldo was wrongly arrested and charged in connection with the rape of a woman in Sunset Park. And police investigated whether he was tied to a series of sex assaults in Brooklyn, including a brazen attack caught on camera in Park Slope.

When investigators released video of a man in a Dunkin Donuts, Giraldo seeing himself on camera, walked in to a precinct to clear his name.

"I knew they were looking for me. Might as well go in and clear this up," he says.

And he tried without an attorney for 13 hours.

Giraldo says, "I told all of them throughout the day this was a mistake I didn't do this, I was crying throughout the day in that cell."

And numerous rounds of interrogations later he was charged, just hours before his wedding day.

"I had a small window in the cell I was in I thought I was never going to see the street again. It was terrifying."

He would spend a month and a half locked up. His then fiancee says she never lost faith.

While he was in custody, the Columbian immigrant was threatened with deportation, until the DNA cleared him and the charges went away.

But the stain of the arrest remains for now and perhaps forever.

"The least that they could do is an apology for what they have done to my life," adds Giraldo.

new york city, new york news, jeff pegues

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Thursday, 8 December 2011

Man in McDonald's beating video speaks out

Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- A former McDonald's employee cleared of beating two unruly customers is speaking out for the first time.

The confrontation was caught on camera.

One customer had a broken skull.

Still, a grand jury refused to indict him.

"Only when they came up on me, that's when I started swinging it," said Rayon McIntosh, the former McDonald's employee.

Former fast food worker Rayon McIntosh says he never wanted to be a YouTube sensation, certainly not this way, caught on a cell phone video beating two unruly female customers at a Greenwich Village McDonald's in October.

But the 31-year-old ex-con, working the overnight shift, trying to turn his life around, says he did what he had to do against two women who took their verbal threats to the physical level.

"She f--- me up. She cut me up, I'm an immigrant. I'm still trying to tell her, you know, 'Can you please calm down? This isn't serious.' That's when she spit on me, slapped me from across the counter where the patrons are supposed to be. She spit on me first, and followed with a smack in my face," McIntosh said.

She then jumped over the counter, and her friend went to head McIntosh off.

He says he felt trapped.

"I just picked up the first thing that was in my reach. It was a metal and aluminum rod, very bendable, very thin. It's a long metal rod with a handle, you can bend it like this," McIntosh said.

It was a rod used to scrape the grill.

"You can see she clearly come to the back, and that's when I started swinging it. I thought she had a weapon," McIntosh said.

"I guess the question is, why keep hitting them?" Eyewitness News Investigative reporter Sarah Wallace asked.

"Because they still keep coming at me, you're not thinking rational, you're just thinking to keep this person at bay," McIntosh said.

"So you think you were absolutely justified in continuing to hit them?" Wallace asked.

"Yes, because they still keep coming towards me," McIntosh said.

"And then it becomes after the first blow, does it continue to be self-defense?" Wallace asked.

"You are just in survival mode. That's the only answer I could give," McIntosh said.

"It looks like you hit one of them when she was on the ground, trying to defend yourself," Wallace said.

"Oh, because she kept getting up and telling me, when she get up, she's going to f--- me up," McIntosh said.

Even though Myika Darbeau suffered a fractured skull and arm and Rachel Edwards was cut, a grand jury declined last week to indict McIntosh for felony assault.

He'd gotten out of prison last March after serving 11 years for manslaughter and was terrified at the thought of going back.

"Do you have any regrets about this?" Wallace asked.

"I'm sorry that it happened. All I wanted to do was work my shift and go back home. I wasn't looking for trouble. I learned that my freedom is the most important thing that I got," McIntosh said.

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assault, investigations, sarah wallace

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Monday, 5 December 2011

Exclusive: bus shooting victim's widow speaks

Web produced by Dan Hosea, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- Marvin Gilkes was riding on the Q111 bus when a stranger shot him in the back.

Gilkes died instantly, the second victim of an alleged madman who police also accused of murdering his girlfriend's teenaged stepson before he opened fire on the crowded bus.

"I was getting ready for work and he grabbed me and he said, I love you, I'm so in love with you," widow Alicia Gilkes said.

They are words Alicia Gilkes replays in her mind.

One of the last conversations she had with her husband Marvin.

"They say the good die young. So my husband, he was a good man," Gilkes said.

They married in Tobago on July 3, 2010.

Alicia and Marvin met when they were just 7.

They were neighbors in Trinidad.

Marvin would later become a detective on his home island, but quit his job and moved to New York to join his one and only love.

On Friday, Marvin decided to go visit his mother before heading to nursing school.

He jumped on the Q111 bus, never knowing he would cross paths with accused gunman Damel Burton.

Alicia spoke with Marvin right before he got on the bus, reminding him it was pizza night.

"He was like, 'But remember I've got school.' And I said, don't worry we'll leave you some. I'll see you when you get home," Gilkes remembered.

Prosecutors say 36-year-old Marvin Gilkes was shot in the back of the head and died at the scene.

A 29-year-old was struck in the face but survived and is in stable condition.

Queens district attorney's office says that before boarding the bus, Burton first shot at an 18-year-old inside a nearby apartment.

The teen jumped out of a rear window but later died from his injuries.

"I haven't eaten one meal. I'm weak, distraught, he was my everything. My soulmate, it's just been really hard. I never thought I'd be going through this after one year of marriage. I thought we would be growing old together. [It's] very hard," Gilkes said.

Marvin's funeral will be held Wednesday. His family will bring his body back to Trinidad for burial.

Damel Burton, 34, has been charged with murder and attempted murder.

new york city, queens, bus, shooting, new york news

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