Man charged in bus shooting that injured 2
NEW YORK — Prosecutors in Queens have charged a local man with firing a pistol into a city bus this week, a shooting that wounded two passengers.
Melvin Adams, 43, of the Bronx, faces assault and weapons charges in the Thursday shooting in the Jamaica section of Queens.
It was not immediately clear whether he had a defense attorney who could comment on the charges.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the shooting shattered the windshield of the Q8 bus near the intersection of Jamaica Avenue and 148th Street. Adams had a “heated exchange of words” with a stranger before reaching into a backpack, pulling out a handgun and firing three rounds at the man.
A 66-year-old passenger on the bus was struck in the shoulder, prosecutors said, and a 20-year-old passenger was struck in the hand by a bullet fragment. Both were taken to the hospital for treatment.
The backpack Adams was carrying held an additional 15 rounds of ammunition, authorities said. Eleven other rounds remained in the magazine of the .40 caliber pistol.
“We can’t live in a world where a petty dispute on the street between strangers ends up with innocent people getting shot at on a city bus,” Katz said.
Officer admits assault of a handcuffed man
WHITE PLAINS — A former Mount Vernon police officer has admitted assaulting a handcuffed and shackled man — a body-slamming caught on hospital surveillance video.
James Ready, of Putnam Valley, also pleaded guilty this week to falsifying records and lying about the attack in an effort to cover it up. The body slamming happened Nov. 23, 2019, while Ready was guarding a man in custody who had been taken to the emergency room at Montefiore-Mount Vernon Hospital.
Ready was preparing to take the man to police headquarters when he became unruly, prosecutors said.
The officer used excessive force and slammed the man to the floor, injuring him, and created a false report about the incident. He later resigned.
“James Ready took an oath to protect and serve the people of Westchester County. His actions not only violated the law, but they violated that oath,” District Attorney Mimi Rocah said in a news release.
Prosecutors said Ready will avoid jail time if he successfully completes probation.
N.J. man gets 7 years in stabbings at shore
POINT PLEASANT, N.J. — Authorities say a New Jersey man has been sentenced to seven years in prison in the stabbing of two New York men during a Labor Day beach brawl at the Jersey Shore last year.
The Ocean County prosecutor’s office said Juwan Roman, 19, of Newark was sentenced Friday according to the terms of an earlier plea agreement. He will be required to serve 85 percent of the term before being eligible for parole.