CrimeTimeNews (c)

Patchogue, NY - MAN KILLED IN MASONIC MISTAKE

A man was shot in the face and killed during an initiation ceremony at the Southside Masonic Lodge when another member fired a gun loaded with real bullets instead of the expected blanks.
Mastor Mason Albert Eid, 76, meant only to scare William James, 47, when he reached into his pocket. Instead of the prop gun, Eid mistakenedly drew out a .32 caliber pistol he has been legally permitted to carry since 1951.
The New York state Grand Master stated that guns are not a part of official Masonic ceremonies but, a Lodge official said that the local tradition dates back more than seventy years.
Eid stands charged with manslaughter and is free on $2,500 bond.

Cincinnati, OH - TEEN SHOOTS COP

It was 4:30 Saturday afternoon when officers responded to a report of a woman robbed of money orders. They quickly picked up a seventeen year old who fit the perpetrators description. Then the victim identified him. The teen aged suspect was then handcuffed and placed into the back of officer Katrina Neal's cruiser.
While transporting the young man to the detention center, a shot rang out from the back seat. Neal rolled out of the drivers seat as another shot rang out. She quickly sought cover in a recessed doorway and returned fire.
When the smoke had cleared, the teen was shot in the shoulder as was a female pedestrian who was at a nearby BP station. Her wound was caused by a .25 caliber handgun, the same kind of weapon found in the possession of the subject.
Officer Neal was not injured but an investigation is underway to determine why the four officers who had contact with the youth failed to find the gun.

Stratford, CT - POSTMAN SAVES POLICEMAN

It was just another call when officer Mike Vangrowski was dispatched to the Rotary Drug Store. The pharmacist had managed to stall the suspect who was attempting to pass a fake perscription for Xanax but the man made a break for it when he saw the uniform.
Vangrowski chased him across the parking lot and brought the subject down by a guardrail with a flying tackle. That's when the struggle for the gun started. Four hands fought desperately.
Then sixty-six year old John Valenti jumped out of his mail truck and into the middle of the fray. Between the postman and the policeman, they were able to subdue and hold the man until backup arrived.
Valenti discounted his role as a hero. "I looked in my mirror and saw someone who needed help. Those guys (the police) are the real heros."

Jacksonville, FL - POLICE SEEK CHILD IN PORN CASE

Two men are already in custody but police say the key to their case, a fourteen year old girl, has runaway again. The child, Tiffany Gomez, first left home last November with her next door neighbor, Eric Longstreth. He took her places she had never been and forced her to do things she had never done.
Longstreth, 41, faces a laundry list of fifteen charges including selling a minor for pornography, using a minor for prostitution and living off the earnings of a prostitute. Detectives believe the girl was put to work in a child prostitution ring in the Jacksonville area. They also think other girls under eighteen are still involved.
Tiffany was with Longstreth when he was arrested two weeks ago in Kissemee but has since disappeared. Her mother doesn't understand how the man next door, who abandoned his wife and own two daughters, corrupted her little girl. "She was so good." said the distraught woman.

Pompano Beach, FL - PUBLIC HOUSING BRIBERY RING BUSTED

Fourteen people, including current and past employees of the local housing authority have been indicted for shaking down poor people who need Section 8 housing. When faced with a waiting list three hundred names long, those who could, paid bribes ranging from $500 to $1,000 to leapfrog to the front of the line.
The scheme was so widespread that one of those charged is a beautician who kept a stack of forms in her shop and collected bribes on a commission basis. In addition to the bribes, employees created false tenants so their friends and relatives could collect money meant for landlords. One maintenance worker and his girlfriend pocketed $16,000.

Jerusalem, Israel - FOUR MOB HIT MEN HELD

Police say that the six organized crime families in Israel are divided into two main camps. They are currently fighting for control of gambling, prostitution and drug trafficing in the Holy land. These combined underworld activities are estimated to be worth around $12 billion every year.
In a case cops code named "Liquidation Sale", officers have arrested four assassins brought in from Belorussia. Authorities first became aware of the men when a bomb they placed under a car fell off. That device was defused but a similiar one exploded, killing three bystanders.
Police know of nine innocents killed during the ongoing feuds. In the daily death count that is a part of life in the area, they aren't sure how many hits have actually taken place. To date forty-one people have been arrested in the probe.