CITYWIDE

PUERTO RICAN DAY PARADE PUNCTURED BY VIOLENT OUTBURSTS

About 175 people were arrested in yesterday’s 48th Puerto Rican Day Parade, according to preliminary police reports. The high number of arrests marks a spike in crime for the annual celebration, which has seen little violence in the last few years.

As the afternoon heat swelled to 90 degrees, police began arresting rowdy revelers on a variety of charges, including disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, and assault, police said. Arrests were made at scattered locations throughout the path of the parade, which marched up 5th Avenue from 44th to 86th streets.

On 59th Street between 5th and 6th avenues, 150 people, allegedly associated with the Latin Kings gang, were arrested for unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct at 3:40 p.m.

Another 19 people were arrested after a police officer’s hand was lacerated when he tried to break up a dispute between several men on the corner of 85th Street and Madison Avenue, police said. Three people were stabbed on the corner of 51st Street and 5th Avenue and then taken to a nearby hospital in stabile condition, police said. Two suspects who were with the perpetrator were arrested, though they weren’t responsible for the stabbing, police said. Two guns and several knives were recovered during the arrests.

– Special to the Sun

TWO SUSPECTS IN CHELSEA SHOOTING ARRESTED

Two Brooklyn teenagers were arrested for their alleged involvement in a robbery of a second-floor CD and DVD store in Chelsea that inadvertently left one Baltimore woman with a bullet wound to the chest, police said.

On Saturday, a group of young men and teenagers held up the store and stole bags of CDs, police said. The owner, who called the police first, pursued them up Broadway. One of the robbers allegedly fired from a handgun a shot intended for the owner, but it hit a 25-year-old tourist visiting from Baltimore in the chest instead, police said. The woman, who was identified by police as Sheria Guster, was brought to St. Vincent’s hospital in Greenwich Village, where she was listed in stable condition. Despite the gang’s splitting up and running in different directions, police quickly arrested two suspects at the corner of 29th Street and Fifth Avenue. A 9mm handgun was found on the suspects, police said. The alleged robbers, Christian Campbell and Devon Carter, who are both 16 years old and neighbors on Thatford Avenue in Brownsville, are variously charged with reckless endangerment, possession of a weapon, and robbery with physical force, among other charges.

– Special to the Sun

WEINGARTEN TESTIFIES BEFORE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD

The president of the teachers union, Randi Weingarten, gave her first day of testimony Friday before a closed-door session of the Public Employment Relations Board. Ms. Weingarten continues her testimony today.

The United Federation of Teachers’ top priority is securing substantial raises for teachers. In the past, the union has said publicly it wanted a 14% raise over two years. Now, the teachers and the city have agreed that the contract will last for three years, and Ms. Weingarten has said she wants a raise of 15% to 20% over that time period, so New York City teachers earn comparable salaries to suburban teachers. The city and the union are in agreement that there should be an easier process of getting rid of teachers who have sexually abused students.

Two years after the teachers contract expired, the two sides are still at odds over seniority and tenure-related issues. Representatives of the city will testify before the Public Employment Relations Board this month. At the end of the month, each side will present a half day of rebuttal. In early August, the teachers and the city will submit their final briefs. PERB is likely to come out with its nonbinding recommendations this coming fall.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

LIEUTENANT COLONEL DIES IN IRAQ

Lieutenant Colonel Terrence Crowe, 44, of Grand Island, N.Y., died June 7 in Tal Afar, Iraq, near the Syrian border, when his unit came under attack by enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, according to the Department of Defense.

Crowe was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 10th Battalion, 98th Regiment, 4th Brigade, 98th Division, of Lodi, N.J. His 22-year military career combined active duty with time in the National Guard and Army Reserve, according to Crowe’s sister, Peg White, 42. Crowe, who had been in Iraq since October, is one of the highest-ranking officers to die in the war in Iraq, according to a Buffalo Times dispatch.

“He was proud to go and proud to serve his country,” Mrs. White said. “When he came home on leave at the end of May, he commented that the living conditions for the Iraqi people were horrible and he felt they needed help.”

“We fully support the United States’ efforts for the Iraqi people and believe the mission needs to be finished,” Mrs. White said. Crowe leaves behind two children: Jeremiah, 19, and Clara Louise, 17.

– Special to the Sun

POLICE LOOKING FOR MAN AFTER WIFE’S DEATH IN HOUSE FIRE

MOIRA, N.Y. – A 37-year-old woman was found dead after a house fire yesterday morning in northern New York in what state police call an apparent homicide. Police were called shortly before 8:30 a.m. to the home, where Moira firefighters extinguished the blaze and Christine Russell was found. Last night, investigators said the fire was suspicious and they were trying to locate 39-year-old Ernest Russell, the victim’s husband. Information on the cause of death was not immediately available.

Moira, near the Canadian border, is 146 miles northeast of Syracuse.

– Associated Press

BROOKLYN

TEENAGER STABBED TO DEATH IN BROOKLYN

On his way to a party early yesterday morning, a Brooklyn teenager was stabbed to death by two unidentified assailants in Boro Park, police said.

Police from the 66th Precinct responded to a call at 1:05 a.m. and found Ceasar Cruz, 17, with several stab wounds in the abdomen, at 504 McDonald Ave. Emergency personnel brought him to Lutheran Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Cruz was returning to a party he had attended earlier in the night from another one a few blocks away when he encountered the assailants. A fight broke out and Cruz was stabbed three or four times, police said.

No arrests have been made.

– Special to the Sun