Human remains were discovered in the basement of a Brooklyn NYCHA complex on Sunday morning, authorities say.
According to police sources, workers inside the 330 Bushwick Ave. made the grim discovery at around 9:38 a.m. on Feb. 1. The workers told police they found “body parts” inside the garbage area by a trash chute.
Upon arrival, cops from the Police Service Area 3 and 90th Precinct found the body of a woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene. While she has not yet been identified, she is believed to be between 50 and 60 years old.
The Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Lt. Jonathan Cedeno of the NYPD Citywide Pickpocket Unit.
Photo by Dean Moses
These grinches can’t seem to stay out of trouble.
More than half of all thieves that the New York Police Department’s Citywide Pickpocket Unit has cuffed in 2025 are recidivists, amNewYork has learned, as specialized cops work to curb sleight-of-hand criminals that surge during the holiday season.
The Pickpocket Unit consists of plainclothed cops who patrol the underbelly of the Big Apple in mass transit and — throughout the holiday season — scour crowded locations like the Bryant Park Winter Market, Rockefeller Christmas tree, and more where crooks lurk to pinch the belongings of unsuspecting New Yorkers and tourists alike.
Lt. Jonathan Cedeno, the team’s commanding officer, told amNewYork that cops have spent years blending into the masses and apprehending pickpockets in action to great success; he says the number of perpetrators have drastically plummeted in 2025.
“They definitely got the word. I don’t want to take all the credit. Obviously, it’s not just my team doing all the work. We work very closely with the detective squads and Intel units that work within the NYPD, and we share information also with outside jurisdictions, not just NYPD, but New Jersey. We work with Amtrak, MTA police. We just share information in this pickpocket because the more information we share, the more information we get, and we’re able to be prepared for these guys,” Cedeno said.
Lt. Jonathan Cedeno looks at surveillance footage of a pickpocket in progress. Photo by Dean MosesLt. Jonathan Cedeno patrols the subway.Photo by Dean Moses
Still, despite curbing the crime, many of those who persist are repeat offenders who keep returning to a life of crime, no matter how many times cops catch them in the act.
Even as pickpocket activity has decreased this year, Cedeno’s team has still managed to make approximately 40 arrests, excluding those with active warrants or ICards (flagged for previous crimes). Twenty-six of those 40 arrested individuals are recidivists.
“Unfortunately, it’s a very small group of individuals that continue to do this. They’re well known around the department,” Cedeno said. “During the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, we made three apprehensions. All three of the subjects have been previously arrested by my team on other events. So that tells you they only come to these major events to steal phones or wallets.”
According to sources with knowledge of pickpocket arrests, those recidivists have been apprehended dozens upon dozens of times.
One suspect, Darin Mickens, 58, has been arrested 50 times; 42 of the arrests were for felonies. He was cuffed multiple times by the Pickpocket Unit in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
In 2024, he was incarcerated but released in the spring of 2025 — and, police sources say, he has allegedly returned to a life of crime.
Authorities say that some pickpocket recidivists also have a history of other crimes. Another unnamed offender in Queens has previously served time for rape and is on parole, and has since been arrested upwards of 20 times for pickpocketing, but has been released because the crime is not of a sexual nature.
amNewYork reached out to district attorneys across the five boroughs for comment on the release of the offenders and is awaiting a response.
NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta oversees a roll call of the Pickpocket Unit.Photo by Dean MosesThe pickpocket unit scours the subway.Photo by Dean Moses
NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta emphasized the importance of the pickpocket unit, citing its ability to protect the public by blending in plainclothes and apprehending criminals in the act.
“The pickpocket team is so important because they’re in plainclothes, they’re specialists. They know exactly who to look for, the actions of pickpockets, how they move, and more importantly, they get to know who they are, and that’s important for us,” Gulotta said. “That intelligence they share has led to other arrests.”
For cops in the unit, they say it is moments like that which make the job worth it, adding that many times it is not just monetary value that is lost when a person is robbed; sometimes it is irreplaceable moments, like photos on cellphones, that get hijacked in the process.
41-year-old Victor Medina is also cuffed.Photo by Dean Moses
One police officer in the unit, whose identity was withheld due to the sensitive nature of their work, says it is all about giving back dignity to the victims.
“I know the feeling of getting robbed, because I’ve been a victim myself. So, any complaint we investigate in our unit, we take it very seriously. We’re gonna give back a little bit of that dignity that the person lost. And we’re gonna give 110% even more to try to get the person responsible,” the officer said. “We want this person to stop, and we want the person who has already lost the property, or who’s a victim of a crime, to get that dignity back.”
One police officer in the unit, who must remain unnamed due to the sensitive nature of his work, says for him it is all about giving back dignity to the victims.Photo by Dean Moses
A couple visits a popular bar in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and hands the bouncer their IDs. However, they are shocked when the staff accuses them of using a fake ID and tells them to call the police to get it back.
In a video with over 130,000 views, TikToker Daniella Lopez (@daniellalopez9988) stands outside with her partner. She says they decided to go to the “infamous” Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.
The bar features live music every night, with pool tables and a vintage, old-town aesthetic, and is a popular destination for travelers in Jackson Hole. However, their excitement quickly dampens after they try to enter the bar.
Why did the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar reject their ID?
“They said that Chris’s ID was fake. And then he said, ‘I’m going to have to hold onto this, and we’re calling the cops,”” she explains. “So obviously, we had to call the cops cause we’re traveling.”
While some bars may have a device to scan IDs for validity, some bouncers may require a police officer to verify the card themselves.
She says that two cops came to look at her partner’s ID, drawing attention from other bar guests.
“They tell us that obviously the ID is real, and then we go inside. It’s so awkward. People are looking at us,” she recounts. Lopez also notes that the bouncer did not apologize for the mix-up.
The TikToker says that some bar guests even approached them after the fiasco to find out why the cops were called. They decide not to stay at the bar for very long, calling the experience “awkward.”
The caption reads, “So sad million dollar cowboy bar was a dud.”
Why do viewers think the bouncer stopped the couple?
In the comments, some viewers suggest that the validity of the couple’s IDs was questioned because they are Latino. Other former Latino customers share their experiences at the Million Dollar Cowboy.
“As a Latina who has been there and not by choice, I will say it was definitely racially motivated…. Especially if Chris’ ID is from California,” one writes.
“As a Latina, I walked in there 4 years ago and I swear there was a record scratch and all the wpp in there looked at me,” another shares.
Others chalk up the couple’s experience to simply poor customer service.
“That place is awful…. we used to get kicked out for being locals. you didn’t miss anything and wort is way cooler,” a commenter says.
“Every time I’ve been to that bar the staff (mostly the guys at the door) are SOOOO RUDE!!!!” a second viewer writes.
“Jackson hole doesn’t have the local home town hospitality anymore. Nobody that lives in wyo ever wants to visit anymore,” a third remarks.
A man was shot outside a restaurant in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood Sunday morning, police say.
Just before 11 a.m., the shooting occurred outside Republica Food & Lounge, located at 1260 NW 36th St., according to Miami police. The victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound. He was conscious.
Officers spoke to the people who brought the man to the emergency room, according to law enforcement officials, who didn’t elaborate further.
Investigators later located a shooting scene outside the restaurant, per police. As of Sunday evening, it’s unclear if anyone has been arrested in connection to the shooting.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 8:53 PM.
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.
Police are on the hunt for a man who slashed an MTA worker inside a subway tunnel in Brooklyn late on Monday night.
According to police sources, the incident unfolded inside the Nostrand Avenue-Eastern Parkway subway station on the 3 line in Crown Heights at around 10:39 p.m. on Sept. 29.
The NYPD reported that the victim, a 64-year-old MTA worker, spotted a man walking along the southbound tracks’ roadbed inside the tunnel.
Law enforcement sources reported that the employee confronted the trespasser, instructing him to leave the area, but the pair got into a dispute. The suspect became enraged, police said, and slashed the worker across his neck before fleeing further into the tunnel.
Officers from the NYPD Transit Bureau responded to the incident. The victim was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition and is expected to survive.
The perpetrator was last seen wearing a black and white shirt. No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this attack can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
The NYPD is facing a historic rate of attrition, as amNewYork reported in August. An average of 300 cops per month have quit or retired this year. But rank-and-file members still on the job tell this publication that the mass exodus is also causing slow response times, according to reports, while battling an overwhelming workload.
According to the Mayor’s Management Report, which was released last week, the current average response time is 14 minutes and 53 seconds — which is a 90-second improvement from the average of 15 minutes and 23 seconds in fiscal year (FY) 2024. But over the last half-decade, according to the same report, response times have steadily grown longer by a large margin.
Between FY2021 and FY2025, police response times lengthened by three minutes and 13 seconds — roughly 27.6% higher than the 11-minute, 40-second response time reported four fiscal years ago.
The document also shows that response times to non-critical crimes in progress have jumped by an extra nine minutes since 2021, making the average response time a whopping 28 minutes and 28 seconds. Serious crimes leapt to almost three minutes longer.
An NYPD spokesperson responded by noting the response time decline between 2025 and 2024, which they said was due to the department’s strategy of personnel development while also bolstering its numbers.
“In August, the NYPD hired nearly 1,100 police officer recruits, marking the largest class of officers sworn in by the NYPD since January 2016. Including this class, already this year, the NYPD has hired 2,911 recruits — the highest number since 2006 — with another class still scheduled for this year. The NYPD remains laser-focused on continuing our recruitment efforts and bringing in the next generation of officers,” a spokesperson said.
Still, those on the job today say the impact of months of attrition is evident to their observant eyes.
Sean, an officer from Brooklyn with a decade of experience who spoke to amNewYork on Tuesday under the promise of anonymity, said that his stationhouse has lost about 30% of cops since he got on the job, leading him and his colleagues to struggle to do more with less.
“Ten years ago, we would have had more resources working in the precinct, with more physical cars. So, there would be, literally, instead of one car patrolling one area, it would be two, which is a total of four officers,” Sean said. “Let’s say you have to get there quickly, you try to assess the situation. ‘Okay, this doesn’t really need police.’ And then you’re kind of rushing, you know, you try to analyze, try to determine, Okay, do they really need me right here?”
NYPD cops ‘are not getting a break … literally’
Sean says with fewer cops on the beat, people not only have to wait longer when they dial 911, but the cops themselves work hours of overtime without even getting a lunch break, forcing them to eat while inside their squad cars.
“Guys are not getting a break. It’s literally, ’oh, I’m sorry, check back in an hour, or check back when this person comes back from the transport.’ Or ‘check back, maybe we’ll have more guys at a certain time.’ And then sometimes it doesn’t happen,” Sean railed. “So, you’re literally eating in the car. You’re eating on the run, you know? And so the public may see a cop literally sitting in the car eating and say: ‘Oh, this guy isn’t doing anything,’ but they don’t know that I didn’t even get a break.”
Sean charged that situations like these are why many of his colleagues are calling it quits and taking jobs in other jurisdictions due to what he called quality-of-life issues within the NYPD. Exhaustive overtime, missed lunch breaks, excessive workloads, and disrespect at work have all contributed to an average of 300 cops calling it quits each month and, in turn, racking up response times.
Cops say the public is being made to wait longer for help.Photo by Dean MosesA Police officer at a crime scene.Photo by Dean Moses
Next one out the door
James, another cop working in Brooklyn with two decades on the force, stated that help can’t come soon enough, going as far as to say the public deserves better than what the NYPD is currently providing.
“We’re out here to do the best job we can. It’s just the circumstances that we’ve been presented with. I think we’re doing the best we can, but it’s frustrating for all parties involved. This is not the police department the city deserves. You know, they deserve the best we can give them, and right now, this is the best,” James told amNewYork. “It’s rough keeping pace with everything going on.”
James presented a similar story to Sean’s, explaining that his precinct lacks the manpower it had just two years prior, leaving the public waiting for what he says can be hours.
“We just don’t have the officers to get there and then, as we’re battling through normal calls, now a priority comes over. So, if I’m at your house to deal with a report that somebody broke into your car, now mid-job, I’m rerouted to another priority, and now I’m going to finish that and hopefully get back to you eventually,” James said. “The biggest frustration, I think the public has is for what the department deems is a non priority call, you could be waiting two hours just to get an accident report done, and I’m going to spend the first five minutes of our interaction trying to apologize and explain that it wasn’t just I didn’t want to come, it’s every time I get close by I get rerouted.”
James said that veteran cops are taking these frustrations from both the public and their supervisors and hanging up their uniforms for greener pastures, whether that be Suffolk County or elsewhere. He added that he would also be leaving in the near future.
“I don’t want to say it’s always financial, but a lot of times it’s more about the quality of life. So, if you could offer me a position doing reasonably the same amount of work and my days off are going to be my days off, and where I’m not always ordered for mandatory overtime to just cover the loss of personnel that we have, I might jump,” James said. “At this point, when it is my chance at the turnstile, I’ll be the next one out the door.”
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry charged that the staffing crisis in the department is not only making the cops suffer, but the public’s life-or-death cries for help could go unanswered for longer because of it.
“When New Yorkers need help, every minute spent waiting for police to arrive can feel like an eternity. The NYPD’s staffing crisis has extended those agonizing wait times to unacceptable levels. Police officers are already under enormous pressure. They are being deprived of meal breaks and days off to cover for short-staffing, and that strain is driving even more talented cops out the door. Response times won’t meaningfully improve without improvements to police officers’ quality of life and compensation to help keep them on the job,” Hendry said.
EAST POINT, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – East Point has now joined a small but growing list of Georgia cities that have voted to decriminalize marijuana possession of an ounce or less.
Of the 535 cities in the state, East Point is just the 13th to make the move.
Now, people arrested for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana will be given a $75 fine or community service, but will not be punished with jail time.
The ordinance, unanimously approved by the East Point City Council on Dec. 19, almost identically mirrors a similar ordinance down the road in Atlanta.
East Point is the second city to decriminalize this year, following Camilla.
“Georgia is very, very behind the times when it comes to (decriminalization),” said Scotty Smart, a marijuana policy advocate with the group New Georgia Project.
Smart notes that Georgia has the fourth highest rate of simple marijuana possession in the entire country, and Black and brown residents are three to four times more likely to be arrested on that charge.
“Enactment of an ordinance concerning the offense of simple marijuana possession is further intended to prevent young people from entering the criminal justice system and avoiding the enduring stigma associated therewith,” reads part of the ordinance language.
The ordinance also states that decriminalization will also help open up police resources and eliminate costs “by reducing the amount of time police officers spend in connection with the arrest, processing and…
Newly released dashboard camera footage shows two Los Angeles Police Department officers ignoring an active robbery in order to catch some rare creatures in Pokémon Go. The footage shows how the driver ignored stop signs, sped through quiet residential areas, and drove the wrong way down a one-way road. All this was done to catch a Snorlax and Togetic.
New Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Trailer Features Hot Profs, 4-Player Co-Op, And Lechonk, The Hero We Deserve
In 2022, we reported on then-newly-released court docs that revealed a 2017 incident involving two LAPD officers who drove dangerously and ignored direct orders while playing the hit mobile game, Pokémon Go. Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell skipped out on their job to catch some rare digital critters and then lied about their actions. The two law enforcement officers had a combined 28 years on the force. After a 2017 investigation revealed what they had done, the two officers were fired. Last year, we didn’t have footage of what happened. Now, six years later, video has finally emerged.
ABC 7
Thanks to 404 Media’s Jason Koebler, the dashcam footage from that day in 2017 is now publicly available following years of requests. As Koebler notes, the footage proves that the previously mentioned report was accurate. But this new video also reveals more details about what happened and shows just how recklessly the officers acted.
New footage shows LAPD officers trying to catch ‘em all
As seen in an edited version of the three-hour dashcam video put together by 404 Media, the officers can be seen driving quickly in their patrol car. The two tailgate dangerously behind numerous cars, forcing the other drivers to move out of the way. At another point in the video, the police can be seen speeding in a residential area, running a stop sign, and flying over speed bumps.
The police were apparently driving so quickly because they were concerned the Snorlax would despawn after a short timer ran out, saying in the video: “It’s gonna go pink and change into something else.”
After losing the Snorlax, the two officers track down a Togetic and while catching it, talk about Pokémon lore. According to 404 Media, the two cops mentioned that Togetic is Togepi’s evolution and discussed that the creature knows “Hidden Power,” a rare move in the series. Later, Officer Mitchell suggests that Master Ball items are buried in the game’s code and that one day they will be added to the game. He was right, but it would take another six years before the Master Ball would be added to the game.
After finally catching the Togetic, Mitchell can be heard shouting, “Holy crap! Finally!” He adds that the guys back at the station are “going to be so jealous.” Mitchell further celebrated, telling his partner—while the pair reportedly drove the wrong way down a street—that he “got a new high-level Pokémon today.”
A few minutes later Mitchell and Lozano were questioned by a higher-ranking officer, who was confused why the two of them—who were near the area where the robbery occurred—had failed to report in for 40 minutes. Their superior added that it’s “concerning” that they didn’t hear the radio or respond in a “swift manner.”
At this point the two officers decided to lie, and explain that they didn’t hear the radio, claiming they “were not always” in the car when the backup requests were transmitted. However, the video shows that at least one of the two officers was always in the patrol car during the incident. As mentioned, the two were fired in 2017 after an investigation by the LAPD.
Ten people were arrested when a protest over migrants being housed on Staten Island ended in a violent clash with cops, police said Wednesday.
One of the protesters faces an assault charge while the other nine were given summonses for disorderly conduct following the Tuesday night protest at Father Capodanno Blvd and Midland Ave. in Midland Beach, cops said.
A busload of asylum seekers were being sent to the Island Shores Assisted Living Facility when protesters blocked the path to the former assisted living facility, cops said.
Responding officers ordered the demonstrators to move out of the way but they refused, sparking a stand-off.
Cops stepped in and dragged demonstrators from the street. A cop suffered a knee injury when 48-year-old Vadim Dlyakov, who lives down the block from the assisted living facility, put up a fight, cops said.
Dylakov was charged with assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration. His arraignment in Staten Island Criminal Court was pending Wednesday.
Eight men and one woman were taken into custody and let go with disorderly conduct summonses that they will have to answer in court at a later date.
Protesters have also picketed outside of Gracie Mansion as more than 110,000 migrants have come to New York City over the last several months.
About 10,000 migrants are making their way to New York a month, which is becoming an untenable burden on the city, which has to shelter and care for them as they get on their feet, Mayor Adams recently said.
What You Should Know About Mario Strikers’ Big Free Update
Thanks to a combination of time already served and good behaviour while in prison, however, Bowser is about to be released and sent home to Canada. On the eve of his departure—he’s currently awaiting transport to Toronto with a new passport—Bowser sat down for an interview with NickMoses 05 (thanks TorrentFreak) to discuss the events surrounding his imprisonment and impending freedom.
Bowser says Nintendo can take 25-30% of his “monthly gross income” for the rest of his working life. They began the process while he was still in prison; like many American inmates, Bowser was able to work jobs (for what’s essentially spare change) while behind bars, and over the course of his time at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center in Washington he was able to pay back $25 a month. Adding up to a total of…$175.
Bowser was one of two men arrested in connection with Team Xecuter. While commonly referred to as a “hacker” in media reports he actually confessed to being the company’s “salesman”, and reportedly made $320,000 over seven years of work. The other, French citizen Max Louarn, allegedly the leader of the operation (a role he denies), has managed so far to avoid deportation to the US to face charges, though it’s believed he helped the company make millions over the course of its operation.
