Author: Adam Schrader

EXCLUSIVE: Daily News reader sends bottle of perfume to 80-year-old Brooklyn woman whose favorite scent was swiped at gunpoint during home invasion

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By MARY MCDONNELL, ADAM SCHRADER and LARRY MCSHANE
Published in The New York Daily News on July 3, 2016

Mugging victim Maria Lugo’s apartment smells a little less like fear.

The 80-year-old woman, who lost her television, $300 cash and her favorite perfume during a June 23 armed robbery, cried Saturday after a Daily News reader sent her a brand new bottle of Chanel Chance.

“Thank you to the people that gave me this gift,” said the appreciative Brooklyn grandmom. “Thank you so much. This means that there are good people on the streets that have hearts big enough to feel bad about an old lady like me.”

Lugo said she was still horribly shaken by the Sumner House robbery where three men pushed their way into her apartment at gunpoint.

The senior citizen was shoved face-down to the floor of her sixth-floor kitchen as the terrifying trio ransacked the Bedford-Stuyvesant home that she shares with her daughter and grandson.

Donor Kim Waters, 35, of the Upper West Side, said the sight of the diminutive Lugo’s picture in The News brought back memories of her late 103-year-old aunt.

“She passed away in December,” Waters said. “She was my heart. I had this woman in my life for so long, so when I read this story I was totally heartbroken. … I hope this bottle brings her some happiness.”

Waters sent along a handwritten note explaining her motivation and signed, “With scented love.”

 

Family and friends honor slain Dallas officers Brent Thompson and Patrick Zamarripa with candlelight vigils

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By ADAM SCHRADER, NANCY DILLON and NICOLE HENSLEY
Published in The New York Daily News on July 11, 2016

Candlelight vigils in Texas paid tribute to the officers slain in the Dallas sniper attack, with one officer remembered for his love of family and duty and another for relentless heroism.

DART officer Brent Thompson, 43, was remembered Sunday evening by his brother, Darrell Thompson, as a beloved father to six adult children.

“He put himself in harm’s way to protect and save the lives of his fellow officers and the citizens of Dallas,” said Thompson, speaking to hundreds of people, including his family at Coriscana High School.

A procession of police cruisers and motorcycles escorted Thompson’s body to a funeral home 55 miles south of Dallas in his hometown of Coriscana, KDFW-TV reported.

“He is a hero, but our family already knew that,” Darrell Thompson said.

He recalled his brother calling him all the way from Iraq while working as a private military contractor — just to check on Darrell’s newborn daughter, who was undergoing heart surgery.

He had no news for Brent, but from thousands of miles away, Brent said “Don’t worry. She’s a Thompson. She’ll be fine.”

“He was in a hostile land trying to comfort me. Hero,” the grieving brother added.

In Fort Worth, another candlelight vigil welcomed a diverse crowd of leather-clad law enforcement bikers with the Iron Pigs motorcycle club and members of the All Saints Catholic Church to celebrate Dallas police Officer Patrick Zamarripa’s life.

The five-year law enforcement veteran and Naval veteran was described by his police superiors in Dallas Police Department as an “outstanding officer,” a title his aunt, Lanette Martinez, explained was exemplified through his work until his death on Thursday — one of the five officers killed while patrolling a Black Lives Matter march through downtown Dallas.

Recalling an anecdote from a 9 a.m. service from All Saint on Sunday, Martinez said her 32-year-old nephew helped a single mother and her four children feel safe after they bought a foreclosed home with a troubled past.

“She moved in and come to find out that home was owned by drug dealers,” Martinez told the primarily Hispanic congregation.

“All day and all night, people were coming and looking for drugs and the guy. Finally she made a call and Patrick happened to get that call. He went out. He didn’t go one night, he didn’t go two nights, he didn’t go three nights. He went as many times as he could for so many months up until Thursday to check on this woman and her children.”

“That’s the kind of police officer Patrick was,” she added.

A priest at the Fort Worth church comforted Zamarripa’s father, Rick, with an embrace as his the officer’s mother, Valerie, cried alongside during Holy Communion. The distraught parents quickly left the service after the priest prayed for the couple.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price also spoke at the evening vigil and described the Zamarripa family as “pillars” of their community. She offered a stern warning to those that listened.

“This is a time where if we’re not careful, we’ll harden our hearts and let hatred take hold,” Price said. “We cannot do that. Fort Worth is not that kind of community.”

Zamarripa is survived by a wife, 2-year-old son and 10-month-old stepson.

 

Dallas cop shooter Micah Johnson purchased AK-47 in Target parking lot in 2014

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By ADAM SCHRADER, JOSEPH STEPANSKY and LARRY MCSHANE
Published in The New York Daily News on July 12, 2016

Micah Johnson never balked at the $600 asking price for an AK-47 assault rifle. The buy was arranged via Facebook, and consummated in the parking lot of a Target.

Seller Colton Crews forgot about the deal until last week, when ex-Army reservist Johnson killed five Dallas police officers — and federal investigators tracked Crews down.

“I don’t even know how I feel about it right now,” Crews told the Daily News. “I have no idea. It’s awful. It’s just bad.”

Crews, 26, said there was no inkling during their 15-minute November 2014 transaction that Johnson was anything except a military veteran and a solid citizen.

“He didn’t stand out as a nut job. He didn’t stand out as a crazy person at all,” Crews said. “He stood out as just another guy. And he was U.S. service, so he was like your first pick when you’re selling a gun to somebody.”

While the AK-47 sale shows how easy it was for Johnson to acquire a killing machine, the semiautomatic weapon wasn’t necessarily the gun Johnson used Thursday when he opened fire on police in downtown Dallas.

Crews specifically asked a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent if his old weapon played a part in the law enforcement carnage.

Alejandro Rodriguez places a candle at a public memorial outside Dallas police headquarters on Friday in memory of the police officers slain and injured in Thursday night’s attack.

“He said, ‘All we can say is it was recovered. We’re just finding out everything we can,’” Crews said. “He didn’t say it was the one he used. I hope to God it wasn’t. I hope I’m not that close to all this.”

Investigators searching Johnson’s home in Mesquite, Tex., uncovered a cache of rifles, ammunition, bombmaking materials and bulletproof vests.

Nineteen months earlier, Johnson met up with Crews in the parking lot of the Target outlet in Carrollton, Tex.

Crews, joined by his stepdad for the gun sale, recalled Johnson as little more than a war veteran interested in getting his hands back on one of the powerful weapons.

“He’s in a black SUV. (We) get out, shake his hand, introduce ourselves in person,” Crews recalled “My stepdad actually gets out, thanks him for his service, and lets us do our thing.”

Johnson told Crews about missing the rifle’s firepower since returning to the states from Afghanistan.

No red flags were raised, no second-guessing ensued. Under Texas law for a private sale, no background check is needed when the seller is not a licensed gun dealer.

“First off, it was my belief he would have passed a background check,” said Crews. “He didn’t seem weird in any way, just a normal guy.”

A short conversation ensued, mostly small talk as Johnson made sure the rifle was in working condition. Crews, who conducted a bit of an online background check on Johnson, felt like he’d made a fair deal with a good guy.

“He seems like he’s 100% on the up and up,” recounted Crews, who said his decision to sell the gun was a simple matter of economics.

“You really wanna know why?” he asked. “To afford plane tickets to go a wedding …. That’s why I sold the gun.

“The wedding was in Mexico, which is why the tickets were so expensive, which is why I needed to start downsizing my collection.”

It wasn’t until this past Friday, when Crews, playing drums with his band Monkey Sphere in San Antonio, ever heard the name Micah Johnson again.

He couldn’t remember the name at all initially. After playing Friday night’s gig, his guitar player asked, “Was his name Micah?”

“And I said, ‘That sounds like it might be it,’” recalled Crews. “And he said, ‘Micah Johnson’ — that sounds even more like it. ’Cause I don’t have a TV in my house.’”

Once the story came together, Crews found himself badly shaken. He says his interest in guns is now gone, and he opted out of a weekend deal to buy a shotgun.

“It’s the fact that I feel partially responsible for all this s— that’s happened,” he said. “That’s it. That’s what it is. … He’s just one guy who bought a gun from me, and he decided to do something completely awful.”

Adam Schrader and Joseph Stepansky reporting from Dallas.

Muslim cleric eyed as potential instigator of Turkish military’s coup attempt denies responsibility from his Poconos compound

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By ADAM SCHRADER and RICH SCHAPIRO
Published in The New York Daily News on July 16, 2016

By the Turkish government’s telling, the foiled coup attempt that threw the country into chaos was set in motion in the unlikeliest of places — a secluded compound in the Poconos.

Living deep in the Pennsylvania woods is Fathullah Gulen, a reclusive Muslim cleric who leads a movement that has become deeply critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Erdogan called on the U.S. Saturday to arrest and extradite the 77-year-old Gulen — declaring him a terrorist.

Living deep in the Pennsylvania woods is Fathullah Gulen, a reclusive Muslim cleric who leads a movement that has become deeply critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

But Gulen, in an hour-long interview with reporters at his sprawling estate in Saylorsburg, insisted Saturday he had nothing to do with the foiled attempt to overthrow Erdogan.

“Since I do not know these people I cannot speak to their potential involvement in the attack,” Gulen said through an interpreter.

A man throws himself in front of a tank at the entrance to Istanbul’s Ataturk airport early Saturday morning, July 16, 2016. Members of Turkey’s armed forces said they had taken control of the country.

“I have been away from Turkey for more than 16 years. I have not been following the developments.”

Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would entertain an extradition request for Gulen.

“We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen,” Kerry said while visiting Luxembourg. “And obviously, we invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny.”

Gulen was once a close ally of Erdogan. But the pair fell out in 2013 when prosecutors believed to be Gulen followers launched a corruption probe that targeted Erdogan’s allies.

Gulen, whose Hizmet movement includes think tanks and schools, is said to hold sway over some military personnel, judges and mid-level bureaucrats.

The cleric has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since emigrating to the U.S. in 1999. He’s suffering from heart disease and diabetes and is rarely seen outside of the Golden Generation Worship & Retreat Center’s 26-acre spread.

Speaking Saturday in soft measured tones, Gulen made it clear he’s no fan of Erdogan.

“I’m not sure President Erdogan would accept my message, even if I were to send him the best of the best message,” he said. “He would probably consider it a slur and reject it. This is obvious from the fact that even before the details of the coup attempt surfaced, he began accusing me of being behind the coup.”

 

Woman fatally struck on Brooklyn-Queens Expressway; driver charged with DWI after trying to flee scene

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By ADAM SCHRADER, RYAN SIT and GINGER ADAMS OTIS
Published in The New York Daily News on Aug. 29, 2016

The family of Aissatou Diallo gathered at her Staten Island home to mourn her tragic death Monday when she was knocked off the Brooklyn Expressway.

The 49-year-old mother was standing near a family member’s broken-down car when Vladimir Menin, 43, smashed into another car that careened into her — and sent her flying off the elevated highway.

Cops charged Menin — who witnesses said tried to flee on foot — with drunken driving as well as manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

Diallo’s son, Abdouile, 16, chased Menin and held him until cops arrived.

“I was so angry. My first intent was to throw him over. But then I remembered I’m not a barbarian. My mom wouldn’t have wanted that,” the heartbroken teen said.

Aissatou Diallo had stopped to help another relative with a flat tire, Abdouile said.

The family was coming from a big wedding and stopped about 2:50 a.m. to help his aunt with her stricken car, the teen said.

Police said Menin was in a 2011 BMW and traveling westbound on the BQE, when he struck Aissatou Diallo’s car from behind — causing it to crash into her.

Abdouile, who still had a hospital bracelet on his wrist after he was taken there to get glass removed from his back, said Menin was barely coherent at the scene.

“This guy was really drunk. His words were complete gibberish,” he said.

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Aissatou Diallo’s husband, Amadou Diallo, 54, was surrounded by as many as 50 relatives at his Staten Island home as he tried to come to grips with what happened.

“I need all their support right now,” said the immigrant from Guinea.

“I’m hoping life will continue. I’ll continue to do my best take care of our children,” he said.

Aissatou Diallo’s oldest son, Alpha, 18, was asleep when he got the news of the tragedy.

Alpha, a college student, said he will honor his mother’s memory by getting the best education he can.

“She always told me since I was 5 years old walking into elementary school that school is always first,” he said.

“Right now she’d want me in school but I took a little break for her today. Wednesday, I’m going to continue on. School. School. School,” he said.

Diddy speaks at a school in Harlem (Photo by Adam Schrader)

Sean (Diddy) Combs kicks off first day of new Harlem charter school he co-founded

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By ADAM SCHRADER and BEN CHAPMAN
Published in The New York Daily News on Aug. 30, 2016

Rap mogul and would-be educator Sean (Diddy) Combs delivered a rousing speech Monday to kick off the first day of classes at a new charter school he co-founded in his old Harlem neighborhood.

Speaking from a podium onstage in the student auditorium at Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School, Combs told dozens of students and staffers that their school would change the world, starting with the people right there in the room.

“Great schools and great education make a big difference,” Combs told the cheering crowd. “Unfortunately, too many people don’t get the opportunity to succeed, no matter how hard they try. This is leveling the playing field here at Capital Prep.”

Combs, 46, was born in a public housing project in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon.

He first gained fame as founder of Bad Boy Entertainment, a record label that released music by The Notorious B.I.G. and a slew of hit artists in the 1990s.

Combs had no background in education until he started work on Capital Prep Harlem in 2014. Besides his work in music, Combs has found success in a number of ventures including his Sean Jean clothing line.

He founded the new Harlem school in partnership with Connecticut educator. Dr. Steve Perry, who previously created a successful charter school in Hartford.

Perry, who frequently appears on television and writes books and articles on education, founded Capital Preparatory Magnet School in 2005.

The Hartford school features a no-excuses approach to student discipline and extended instructional time for students. It will serve as a model for Capital Prep Harlem.

“The advantages (of having a celebrity like Combs) are clear,” Perry said. “Mr. Combs has made a significant commitment to this.”

Capital Prep Harlem admitted 176 students in sixth and seventh grades for its first year of classes. Students were chosen from a random lottery of roughly 1,000 applicants.

The charter will expand to enroll about 700 students in grades 6-12 by the year 2021, school officials said.

Traditional public schools in the city begin classes next Thursday, but New York City Charter School Center CEO James Merriman said class is already in session for roughly half of the city’s 216 charters.

“It’s this hard work and innovative spirit that makes the charter sector what it is,” Merriman said.

Jets wide receiver Eric Decker at a bullying event. (Photo by Adam Schrader)

Panel cites death of Staten Island boy when urging more support for victims of bullying; ‘The schools are not getting involved as much’

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By ADAM SCHRADER and LISA L. COLANGELO
Published in the New York Daily News on Aug. 22, 2016

A Staten Island teen who took his own life after being mercilessly bullied should have received unconditional support from his school, experts said Monday at the first ever conference sponsored by the New York Jets and the organization Stomp Out Bullying.

The suicide of 13-year-old Daniel Fitzpatrick was on the minds of educators and panelists at the conference at the Jets’ Florham Park, N.J., training camp as they shared ways to prevent and detect bullying while supporting victims.

“If a child is coming to you and they’re hurt and they feel like something is wrong, the best thing is listening and being there and being able to engage with that child,” said Alexander Levy, 17, a teen ambassador for Stomp Out Bullying.

Levy said schools should not doubt students in pain or ask for proof of bullying.

Experts have said bullying is pervasive, from Daniel’s heartbreaking death to Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s mockery of disabled and women journalists.

Even Olympic superstar gymnast Gabby Douglas was the victim of vicious cyberbullying because she didn’t hold her hand over her heart for the National Anthem during the games in Rio.

“When kids see this, they’re picking up the behavior from the adults in their lives and the trolls online,” said Ross Ellis, who started Stomp Out Bullying to raise awareness and education.

Ellis said she has met with Marvel Comics, which is planning anti-bullying-themed issues with superheroes.

Celebrity psychologist Jeff Gardere was reluctant to draw conclusions about Daniel’s tragic case. But he said it’s important to note the teen didn’t feel supported by staffers at Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Brooklyn.

“We do know that has been an ongoing complaint by many of our students,” said Gardere, who appeared on VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta.” “The schools are not getting involved as much.”

Nick De Mauro, a former police officer who oversees drug abuse education programs, said many teachers and administrators are slow to act on bullying complaints because they fear lawsuits.

“Unfortunately, we live in a society where everyone wants to sue everybody,” he said. “They’ve put a burden on teachers and administrators and really forced their hand to require proof and it’s become problematic.”

The panelists also stressed the importance of counseling, compassion and empathy for individuals who are bullying, since they may have serious problems.

Jets wide receiver Eric Decker made a surprise appearance to show his support. Decker was a student at Rocori High School in Minnesota, where two students were shot in 2003. The shooter, another student, said he had been bullied.

“It could get a lot worse if it wasn’t for you guys,” Decker told the crowd, urging parents to also educate their children about bullying.

Construction begins on Lewisville's Coyote Drive-In theater.(Photo by Adam Schrader)

Anticipation for Coyote Drive-In grows, company postpones opening for rain

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By ADAM SCHRADER and STEVE SOUTHWELL
Published in The Lewisville Texan Journal on June 4, 2016

Drive-in theaters have been absent from the Denton County community since The Rancho in Denton closed in the 1980s. There hasn’t been a theater like it in Lewisville since one closed off Business 121 in the 1970s.

So when Fort Worth-based Coyote Drive-In announced plans to open Lewisville location, the community couldn’t get enough of the news. It continues to be one of the most talked about local stories and residents frequently ask The Lewisville Texan Journal for updates.

The opening, which was once planned for late last year, will be postponed again after a series of delays in the planning stages when the theater realized it had space to add a sixth screen, and rain.

Coyote had then planned for a July 1 opening but now won’t be open until early fall, said Glen Soloman, a partner in Coyote Drive-In. No changes have been made to the planned design since Lewisville approved $306,500 of incentives in February; and work was moving on schedule since the company broke ground in January, before recent rains.

“Nobody is more sorry about the delay than we are,” Soloman said. “But when the long-anticipated location finally opens, it will be worth the wait.”

Soloman said significant progress will be seen in the next coming weeks as the weather forecast shifts.

Lewisville resident Todd Simpson, 36, said he loved going to theaters like it when he was younger.

“I absolutely would go and I understand it’s very difficult to build things when we’re getting the type of rain we’ve been getting,” he said.

Simpson said that next summer, when Coyote Drive-In is open, Texans won’t have to worry about the summer heat like they did.

“When we think of drive-ins, we think of the old days of having to roll down the windows,” he said. Coyote Drive-In uses special FM radio frequencies to which guests tune their car’s radio, so “there is never going to be an issue with the heat,” he said.

Lewisville resident Sallie Burris, 62, said that when she was dating in high school, she used to catch films at the Rebel Twin Drive-In off Belt Line in Carrollton. By the time the previous Lewisville theater opened, she was a young married woman with a baby daughter.

“We would load our Volkswagen bus with bottles, diapers and baby food and go to the movies,” she said. “Now I want my grandchildren to experience the drive-in movie. I am sure they’ve come a long way since then.”

Flower Mound resident Nicole Webb, 23, who is currently in school in Washington D.C., said she’s never been to a drive-in theater.

“Me and my friends in high school always wanted to. We never got around to it because all the ones open then were too far away,” she said. “I’d love to go when I’m in town next.”

Some residents had suggestions for Coyote before they open.

“We honestly don’t go to movies, but if there were a decent family film we would consider it,” Lewisville resident Kari Simpkins, 53. “I don’t care for any sort of violence or foul language. I would love to see some of the recent Christian movies shown there.”

Coyote opened its second location in Birmingham, Alabama, at the start of May. Until the new cinema opens in Lewisville, residents looking to catch flicks from the comfort of their car can head to the company’s original Panther Island location in Fort Worth.

Construction begins on Lewisville's Coyote Drive-In theater.(Photo by Adam Schrader)

City grants $306,500 in economic incentives to Coyote Drive In

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By ADAM SCHRADER
Published in The Lewisville Texan Journal on Feb. 18, 2016

The City of Lewisville passed an economic development agreement, granting $306,500 in incentives to Coyote Drive In, at its Feb. 15 meeting.

Coyote Drive In will include six outdoor screens centered by a 10,000 square foot climate-controlled cantina, a shaded outdoor pavilion, and a 14,000 square foot mini-golf area and a kids play area.

Nika Reinecke, Director of Economic Development and Planning, wrote a letter to City Manager Donna Barron on why the city should approve the economic development agreement.

“As part of the agreement, Coyote will allow the city to use its property for parking purposes for certain city events,” she wrote. “They will also promote city events by projecting city-provided advertisements on all theater screens before each movie.”

The Fort Worth-based company is projected to create 80 permanent jobs and invest $9.8 million in the drive in theater, according to the agreement. Coyote will sponsor an annual hoteliers meeting or a city event at the facility at a cost not to exceed $1,000 annually.

“That property was always going to be difficult to develop,” said council member TJ Gilmore. “This was a great way to get a unique amenity and bring additional tax revenues to the city.”

In return, the city will waive the Coyote’s roadway escrow fee for Midway Road estimated at $247,000, issue a grant equal to the amount of fees paid for water and sanitary sewer impact fees estimated at $43,054, and reimburse all other fees paid to the city up to the total amount.

James Kunke, a spokesman for Lewisville, explained the roadway escrow fee waiver.

“Coyote will need a turn lane on Midway to pull traffic off the road into their facility, otherwise cars will back up onto the road and block traffic,” Kunke said. “But, we’re going to rebuild Midway Road and widen it. So it would be wasteful for them to build it now.”

Coyote will have to pay the city to build that turn lane, which will be included when the city rebuilds the road. But, the city is waiving the fee for the widening of Midway road which the city had already budgeted for.

The agreement ends on Dec. 30, 2026, unless renewed in writing by both parties. The developer will complete property improvements within 18 months. More time may be granted if, in the city’s opinion, Coyote has made substantial progress on construction and property improvements.

“Coyote Drive In brings a new regional entertainment choice for Southern Denton County,” Kunke said. “We are thrilled they chose Lewisville and think they have a lot to bring to our community and we want to support their success.”