Fordham Heights: Jewelry Store Bandits Make off with $2.15 Million in Diamonds

By DAVID GREENE

Police are looking for four men who brazenly walked into a Webster Avenue jewelry store and used a hammer to smash at least one display case, before fleeing on foot down a busy Webster Avenue with over $2 million in gems. Officers from the 46th Precinct were called to Rocco’s Jewelry, located at 2521 Webster Avenue just south of the northern Fordham Heights border at 2:38 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 5. According to a police source, “An unknown individual approached the front door and was buzzed inside of the store by an employee. The individual then held the

By SÍLE MOLONEY

An off-duty New York City police officer was arrested and charged in the 50th Precinct on a DUI charge. Police Officer Joaquin Sepúlveda, 42, who is assigned to the 9th Precinct in Manhattan since 2012, was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving while his ability was impaired on Friday, Aug. 5, at 10.02 p.m. The 9th Precinct covers from East Houston Street to East 14th Street from Broadway, to the East River in Manhattan. According to a police database, Sepúlveda became a police officer in 2004. According to his file, he has been awarded with excellent

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Two men were arrested in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx in connection with a large-scale heroin/fentanyl packaging and distribution operation, according to an announcement by City prosecutors on Thursday, Aug. 4. A stash of approximately 6 kilograms of narcotics (over 13 pounds), with a street value of at least $1.8 million, was intercepted during a short-term investigation, prosecutors said. The drugs were allegedly destined for distribution throughout New York City and Massachusetts. Overdose rates in New York City have escalated since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the City’s health officials, and are at their highest rates

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition. A 17-year-old girl, who police say had been reported missing from Brooklyn was located by a nonprofit representative at the Metro Motel in the Wakefield section of The Bronx on Saturday, July 23. The nonprofit representative, whose name we are not disclosing for security reasons, but who spoke with Norwood News directly about the incident, said the teen is a likely sex trafficking victim, one of millions caught up in an estimated, billion-dollar, global industry. The nonprofit works with victims and survivors

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Norwood neighbors of 35-year-old young husband and father, Nathaniel “Nate” Rivers, were still processing his sudden and tragic passing on July 21, just hours after a horrific, fatal stabbing ended his life as he sat in his car, sharing a pizza with his wife in the midst of a summer thunderstorm. His murder is one of 11 to have taken place in the 52nd Precinct so far this year, a jump of 450 percent in the precinct’s murder tally, compared to the same period last year (2). Just under two weeks later, on Aug. 2, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell

By SÍLE MOLONEY

Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on June 28 that a Bronx man was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision for assaulting a correction officer in a Rikers Island jail. In the context of the case, Clark said, “The defendant, who was an inmate, approached the correction officer and refused verbal commands to step back, then repeatedly punched her until she was left bleeding and severely injured. If you attack a correction officer, we will hold you accountable. We had recommended a consecutive sentence but the court, over our objections, made the

By SÍLE MOLONEY

A rider of an e-bike remains in critical condition at Jacobi Medical Center following a serious collision in Throggs Neck on Saturday. The news comes just one week after the 7th Annual Bronx “Ghostbike” Memorial Ride was held, a bike tour spearheaded by Transportation Alternatives in memory of cyclists killed on the borough’s streets, and just two days before new speeding violation rules, announced in May, went into effect. Effective Aug. 1, tickets will be issued to drivers caught traveling 10 mph above the speed limit, now captured on speed cameras that are operating 24/7, following sustained calls

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT

Eight days after the tragic and fatal stabbing of Tracey Towers mother, Monica Akua, neighbors, community members, church friends, and elected officials gathered at the Jerome Park twin-tower housing complex to remember a beloved resident. The memorial follows a candlelit vigil, also held at the towers, in memory of Akua on Monday, July 18, organized by “We All Really Matter (W.A.R.M.)” a Harlem-based organization supporting people affected by domestic violence. Akua’s daughter, Doris, flew in from Georgia to attend the July 22 memorial and grieve along with her brother, Joel, who, we understand, lives in New York. Their

By SÍLE MOLONEY & DAVID GREENE

Extreme weather brought three thunderstorms, a heatwave and flooding during one crazy week in The Bronx which also saw a van disappear down a sinkhole in Morris Park. As reported, each of the three thunderstorms that hit The Bronx on July 18, July 21, and July 25, brought wind gusts of 60 mph and flooding. The worst flooding was on July 18, amid a reported two and half inches of rainfall, with some minor traffic chaos observed as seen in the attached video and photos. Norwood News photographer, Miriam Quiñones captured a lightning rod seemingly striking Tracey