Bronx Weekend News Roundup, March 7

Welcome back to the program. Lots of wind today in the Bronx will cool off temperatures reaching into the 40s. But was that snow I saw earlier today? Quick note: The Bronx Sports Column will make a special Monday appearance today. Bronx Foodie will return on Friday. To the news!

Story of the Day:
Continuing last week's trend of horrific Bronx stories involving vehicles and violence, police say a cab driver mowed down two former passengers who had asked the cabbie to take them to the Bronx. Early Sunday morning, according to police and witnesses, four men jumped into a cab and told the driver to take them to the Bronx. The cabdriver, Mohammad Azam, refused to drive them to the northern borough and instead suggested they stop at a nearby precinct to ask police if he was indeed obligated to take them to the Bronx. Police told him it was illegal for him to refuse the fare. Then, according to witnesses and the victims, Azam jumped into the cab and hit at least two of his Bronx-bound passengers.

One of the victims, 22-year-old Anthony Loreto, Jr., suffered a fractured skull and a broken leg and was put into a medically-induced coma. Loreto jumped onto the hood of the cab before being flung off by the driver, his father told reporters. Police charged Azam with vehicular assault and leaving the scene of an accident.

Quick Hits:
Flooding closed the Bronx River Parkway this morning.

Bronxite Joseph Meldish, 55, who authorities say was involved with more than 40 murders associated with his own crew and two other mafia families and "definitely ruled [Throgs Neck] with a lot of intimidation throughout the years," was convicted recently and could face life in prison.  

Bronx judges are frustrated by gossiping jurors. Court officers are frustrated with defendants wearing their pants too low. (My mom would agree.)

John Concannon, a Bronx-born journalist who served as public relations director for the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade for two decades, died on March 3 at the age of 86.

 Oscar Fuller, the Queens man charged with beating a Bronx woman into a coma last week defended his actions to the media over the weekend, saying he only hit the woman, Lana Rosa, once and that he was only acting in self-defense after Rosa attacked him over a parking spot. Rosa remains in a coma.

Crain's reports that City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo pressured housing officials to choose a management company that contributes heavily to her campaign to take over a South Bronx apartment building.

We missed this from last week: a new poll says the South Bronx has the city's highest hunger rate.

The College of Mt. St. Vincent in Riverdale is a pipeline for teachers at Belmont's PS 205.