Bronx News Roundup, Oct. 26

A veteran Bronx cop who works out of the 44th Precinct claims he was transferred to an unpopular shift because he refused to write-off a parking ticket he gave to a friend of an NYPD chief. As has been reported, Internal Affairs is probing allegations of ticket-fixing at several precincts in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens. Deputy Inspector John D'Adamo, the commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, is said to be one of those under investigation.

A woman convicted of brutally murdering 91-year-old Nellie Hocutt during a home invasion in Williamsbridge in 2003, has been sentenced to 25-years to life.

Burton Roberts, a hot-tempered Bronx judge who inspired the character Judge Myron Kovitsky in Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," died on Sunday aged 88. As a lawyer in later life, Roberts helped defend the cops who shot dead unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo.

Last week, Gloria Cruz, the leader of the Bronx chapter of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, was honored by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Robert Salerno, a police officer at the 44th Precinct who was shot and injured when he confronted an armed man last March, was recognized at the same event.

A confessed killer who helped murder the doorman of a Mount Eden brothel in 2004 is expected to testify against his three alleged accomplices.

The boyfriend of a woman found murdered in her Morrisania apartment on Sunday has been arrested in connection with the crime.

A Bronx teenager who says he's being physically abused by his family, has made a desperate plea for help, even showing up at family court on his own to state his case.

Pedro Espada, Jr., the soon to be ex-state senator, owes $41,625 in fines for sticking campaign posters to street lamps in the run up to September's Democratic primary. The candidate with the second highest fine: Espada's victorious opponent, Gustavo Rivera, with $11,250. That and more in Bob Kappstatter's weekly column.

Church members at Saint Stephen's United Methodist Church in Marble Hill are celebrating following the restoration of their 112-year-old place of worship.

A gourmet chef has been cooking up a feast - and a healthy one, too - at two schools in West Farms.

Gun Violence Victims Remembered at Bronx Rally

The "lie-down" outside the Bronx County Courthouse last Thursday (Photo: A. Watkins)

On April 16, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, a group that advocates for stricter gun laws, held rallies in Midtown, Harlem, and the Bronx to commemorate the third anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre.

Outside the Bronx Country Courthouse, volunteers lay down for three minutes to highlight the short length of time it takes to buy a gun in this country, and the speed with which VT student Seung-Hui Cho was able to kill his 32 victims.

April 16 is also the anniversary of a Bronx tragedy: the murder of toddler David Pacheco in Morris Heights on Easter Day 2006. His memory was also honored at the event.

David was sitting in the back of a minivan his mom was driving when a stray bullet tore through one of the doors and hit him in the chest. The crime remains unsolved. Gloria Cruz, president of the Bronx chapter of NYAGV, said she's trying to get "America's Most Wanted" to feature the case.

Next Tuesday, Cruz is travelling to Albany for NYAGV's annual "Sensible Gun Legislation Day" - part of a lobbying effort to encourage legislators to pass tougher laws, such as "microstamping" legislation, which would help police trace guns recovered in crimes. Among those accompanying her will be several high school students from the Bronx Youth Council, which was founded in January by the NYAGV and the borough president's office, following a spate of gun violence in the Bronx last fall.