Update: Chaos Follows Sen. Luis Sepúlveda’s Arrest Following Domestic Dispute

By DAVID GREENE

State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda has been stripped of his title as Chair of the Senate Committee on Crimes, Crime Victims and Corrections following a domestic dispute during which he is alleged to have attempted to choke his estranged wife. As reported by the Norwood News, according to NYPD detective and spokeswoman, Sophia Mason, officers from the 48th precinct responded to a 911 call regarding a domestic incident at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, at Sepúlveda’s Daily Avenue home in West Farms. “Police were met by a 40-year-old female and a 56-year-old male who both stated the other party

Neighborhood Notes: Free Immigration Service

By BOB KAPPSTATTER

A Bronx grand jury has indicted a New Jersey man for a horrendous machete attack on a Fordham woman that left her with life-altering injuries. Hector de la Cruz, 27, of Paterson, NJ, was indicted on attempted murder and assault charges in the Feb. 21 attack on his ex-girlfriend inside the lobby of her Fordham Manor apartment building. The Daily News reported the victim was trying to get away from de la Cruz, moving to the Bronx from New Jersey. “The defendant allegedly struck this 20-year-old woman, who is the mother of his two-year-old daughter, in her face, hand and

By BOB KAPPSTATTER

Two men were under arrest in the shooting death of a 27-year-old Bedford Park man after detectives tracked them down through video security cameras, police said. Israel Lagares became the fifth homicide victim in the 52nd Precinct so far this year after he was fatally shot twice in the chest shortly after 10 p.m. on Aug. 16 in front of 2734 Bainbridge Ave., just blocks from his home. He was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital. After an investigation that a police source said involved scouring through a number of video security cameras in the area, detectives arrested Lucas Chajecki,

By BOB KAPPSTATTER

Two young men were under arrest as police hunted for a third suspect in connection with what police sources called a revenge stabbing death of a Fordham teenager earlier this month. Seventeen-year-old Pompey “Blizz” Pernell became the 52nd Precinct’s first homicide victim of the year after he was attacked by three young males shortly after 7 p.m. on Feb. 13, near East 193rd Street and Decatur Avenue, a known gang and narcotics sales area in the precinct. Police said the three attackers surrounded Pompey and one of them stabbed him multiple times in the chest. He staggered down the block into

By BOB KAPPSTATTER and DAVID CRUZ

Police investigating the stabbing death of a Fordham teenager by a group of other youths were focusing on revenge as the motive, police sources said. The attackers have been identified and arrests are expected shortly, said one police source. Seventeen-year-old Pompey Pernell became the 52nd Precinct’s first homicide victim of the year after he was attacked by three young males around 7 p.m. Wednesday near East 193rd Street and Decatur Avenue, a known gang and narcotics sales area in the precinct. Detectives believe the stabbing involved revenge against the victim, who was arrested in December for slashing another member of the

By BOB KAPPSTATTER

When Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps took over as commander of Norwood’s 52nd Precinct this past November, he had his work cut out for him. Overall crime in the precinct covering Norwood, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham, and University Heights, was up 5.52 percent last year. Murders, though comparatively lower in number to past history, were up 250 percent, with eight murders last year compared to two in 2017. Broken down, two of the murders were domestic, with at least one involving what Alps said was a stepfather and son, and two domestic partners; four involved disputes, one narcotics and the eighth

By DAVID CRUZ

The new police commissioner is no stranger to the Bronx, as are a major number of high ranking brass now helping him run the department. Days before he was named by outgoing Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to succeed him, then NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill stood before a convention of community and ethnic press invited to hear from him. Asked about noise issues in Norwood, he quickly smiled and revealed he knew Norwood well. He had been the second in command at its precinct. “I was the captain of the Five-Two in 1998,” O’Neill said, referring to his time

By BOB KAPPSTATTER

Special to Norwood News As crime remains a stubborn problem for some areas of Norwood and its surrounding neighborhoods, the 52nd Precinct is set to embrace some radical crime fighting methods. The news comes amid a year where the Five-Two won the year, though barely. While the number of victims last year was low compared to the precinct’s more problematic days, the Five-Two was hit with a surge of homicides and shootings, as well as bumps in other major crime categories. It still managed to show a four percent drop when the seven major crime categories were lumped together, but it ranked within the top 10

By DAVID CRUZ & BOB KAPPSTATTER The 52nd Precinct is set to get a new batch of officers amid efforts to curb a rising gang problem west of Bedford Park.