Fare-Beater Arrest Turns Into Much More
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An NYPD transit officer who thought she was busting a fare-beater found instead that she had caught a hardened criminal wanted for questioning for the murder of his wife in North Carolina, police said yesterday.
According to police, the transit officer, Esther Rodriguez, 32, and two other officers stopped Cornelius Leary at about 11:35 p.m. on Tuesday as he went through the service door to bypass the turnstiles at the Lexington Avenue and East 116th Street.
It became clear that Leary was no ordinary turnstile-jumper when he drew a .22 caliber revolver as the officers approached him. After a brief struggle, Officer Rodriguez arrested Leary, 39, and searched him, turning up 19 rounds of ammunition in his pants pockets.
During the booking process, Officer Rodriguez, an 11-year veteran of the force, discovered Leary was wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of his wife, Anita Jackson Leary in Edenton, N.C.
His wife was found dead at 531 Sandy Ridge in Edenton, shot twice in the head with a .22 caliber gun, police said.
Leary, of 118 Twiddy Ave. in Edenton, was charged with criminal pos session of a weapon, theft of service, criminal trespassing, and resisting arrest. Leary has several prior arrests for burglary, robbery, larceny, and resisting arrest in New York, police said.
An NYPD spokeswoman said North Carolina law enforcement had been notified. The Edenton Police Department was not available for comment.
GUILTY ON 14 RAPE COUNTS
A Bronx man was convicted of counts of rape, sodomy, and escape for raping nine women in the Bronx over a 10-year period, the Bronx district attorney’s office said.
Luis Acosta of 1169 Flatbush Ave. was found guilty of 14 counts of rape, against women from ages 13 to 58.
All but two of the attacks were at knifepoint, and four of his victims were choked into unconsciousness.
Acosta struck on rooftops and alleyways, and in apartments between the hours of 5 a.m. and 9 p.m.
He never covered his face during the attacks, but was linked to all his victims by DNA evidence, prosecutors said.
Acosta face life in prison when sentenced September 14.
