POLICE BLOTTER

TEEN ACCIDENTALLY SHOT TO DEATH

A Brooklyn teen was charged with accidentally shooting his friend to death, police said. Austin Burton, 18, shot Dario Lam, 17, of Jersey City, twice in the chest at 7 p.m. yesterday in front of Mr. Burton’s apartment building at 611 East 21st Street, Kensington, police said. Lam was taken to Kings County Hospital, where he was pronounced dead half an hour after the shooting. Mr. Burton shot Lam while playing with a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol, and then called 911, police said. Two other teens were present when the shooting occurred. Mr. Burton was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

CAB DRIVER ASSAULTED, ROBBED

A taxicab driver engaged in a Chelsea street dispute was punched in the face early yesterday evening by a pedestrian who was passing by, witnessed the ongoing argument, and decided to join the fracas, police said. The pedestrian, identified by police as Michael McCullough, then stole the cab driver’s cellular phone and fled. Mr. McCullough, 48, was later arrested and charged with assault and robbery. The taxicab driver, whose identity was not released by police yesterday, was treated for minor injuries at St. Vincent’s Hospital and released.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SHOPLIFTER JUMPS INTO MALL FOUNTAIN IN ESCAPE ATTEMPT

A woman attempting to use her 10-year-old daughter to steal a $100 winter coat from Macy’s was arrested last night after she tried to elude the department store’s security guards by jumping over an indoor railing on the second floor of the Staten Island Mall and plunging about 15-feet into a fountain. The woman, Charlene Thompson, 44, was arrested and charged with petit larceny. Her son, Derrick Thompson, 28, was also arrested during the bizarre incident after he began to toss garbage cans around the mall’s second floor. He was also charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Police officials said the incident began when Charlene Thompson was spotted by the department store’s internal surveillance system trying to steal a red, puffy bubble jacket. Ms. Thompson, who police described as weighing about 250 pounds, was spotted stuffing the red jacket into the jacket of her 10-year-old daughter. After leaving the store, the family was confronted by Macy’s security guards, after which Ms. Thompson stepped over the second floor railing and hung on with both hands before dropping into the fountain. She was taken to Staten Island University Hospital for a back injury, police said.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

WHOLESALERS TARGETED IN TOY-GUN SETTLEMENT

A settlement with major national wholesalers has pulled thousands of toy guns that violate New York state law from shelves, many of them from a new target: Costume shops. The wholesalers were estimated to have distributed more than 12,000 toy guns in 2001 alone in violation of a state law that previously had been applied only to retailers. The settlement with New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer’s office is different from past actions in that it targets wholesalers and companies that specialize not in toys, but costume props and novelties. Mr. Spitzer said the distributors sold toy guns that violated a 15-year-old state law that bans realistic toy guns unless they had permanent, usually inch-wide orange stripes running down both sides of the barrel. Without admitting any wrongdoing, Rubie’s Costumes Co. agreed to pay $27,000 in civil penalties and costs and Franco American Novelty Co. agreed to pay $10,000 to end Mr. Spitzer’s civil action. “Realistic-looking toy guns pose a threat to the law enforcement community and to the general public,” Mr. Spitzer said. “My office’s agreements with these two wholesalers will help keep unsafe toys off the shelves of scores of retail stores across the state and possibly prevent tragic incidents.” He said in 1997, four people were killed, and a child was seriously injured when police mistook toy guns for the real thing. Marc Beige, president of Rubie’s Costumes, said he probably sold 60,000 to 70,000 of the toy guns of all types a year, from clown guns that unfurl a “Bang!” sign to Al Capone’s .38 Special.

– Associated Press

LOBBYING BY VOTING MACHINE COMPANIES PICKING UP

In just the last six months, companies looking to cash in on New York state’s expected move to replace its aging lever-action voting machines with electronic models have spent more than $357,000 on lobbying, according to a new report. The report from the New York state chapter of Common Cause, a copy of which was obtained yesterday by the Associated Press, shows that over the past three years, voting machine companies have spent more than $854,000 on lobbying in the state. The spending figures come from required filings with the state Lobbying Commission. Rachel Leon, executive director of Common Cause/New York, said the spending is likely just the “tip of the iceberg” because lobbyists only have to report spending aimed at influencing legislation, not the lobbying of state agencies such as the state Board of Elections. It is the board that is seeking to work out rules under which local governments across the state will purchase new voting machines in time for the 2006 elections in compliance with the Help America Vote Act. New York is expected to receive more than $100 million in federal funds to purchase the new machines under HAVA, which was adopted in the wake of the Florida hanging-chad voting fiasco in the 2000 presidential election. At issue, among other things, is whether the state will adopt rules that would limit local governments to buying only one or two models of the new machines or have standards that are flexible enough so many different machines would be allowed. A decision on that is expected next year. The new machines were supposed to have been in place in time for the 2004 election, but New York and many other states obtained waivers that extended the deadline to 2006.

– Associated Press