Bronx News Roundup, April 28

Weather: A severe weather warning is in effect for today, as intermittent periods of sunshine are disrupted by heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms.

Story of the Day: New Details in Bronx Gay Bashing
Police interview records turned over to defense lawyers in the case of October's bias attack reveal that the men accused--members of a street gang who call themselves the Latin King Goonies--were supposedly extorting one of their victims for protection money, the Daily News reports.

The crew allegedly demanded $2,000 from one of the victims, a 30-year-old man who was reportedly having sex with one of the gang's younger members, and viciously beat and sodomized both men when he couldn't pay up.

Accused ringleader ringleader Idelfonso Mendez and six of his cohorts face multiple hate crime charges, the article says. The men are due back in court next month.

Quick Hits:
Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. is planning a march against same-sex marriage for May 15, the same day as the Bronx Puerto Rican Day parade. The Rev. is presumably preparing to fight a gay-marriage bill that's scheduled for a vote in Albany this spring, which has the support of Gov. Cuomo and a number of other Senate members.

A savvy parking garage owner in Mott Haven fended off two would-be burglars--one wielding a knife--with nothing but an apple. Impressive. Check out the video below.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com/?__source=embedCode.

The two young children who survived Monday's deadly apartment fire on Prospect Avenue in Belmont are mourning the loss of their parents and older brother, who were killed in the blaze.

The owner of the building where the fire took place, before it went into foreclosure, also owned another foreclosed property on nearby 187th Street. That building is also illegally divided in violation of the fire code, the Daily News says.

Northwest Bronx churches are once again being targeted by burglars, police say, after a string of break-ins since late March. A number of other parishes were burglarized this year around Christmas, though the man believed to be responsible for most of the incidents was apprehended a few months ago.

The NYPD ticket-fixing probe, which is being led by the Bronx District Attorney's office, is spreading, with officers from the State Police, Yonkers PD, Port Authority PD and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, believed to be involved.

Soundview's 12th annual Family Day Festival kicks off this weekend.

A struggling food pantry in Kingsbridge Heights is doing all it can to keep feeding the hungry.