POLICE BLOTTER

FIREFIGHTER ARRESTED FOR MOLESTING STEPDAUGHTER

A New York City firefighter was arrested yesterday for allegedly touching his stepdaughter in a sexual manner, police said. Firefighter Robert Hosie, 33, 7 1/2 year member of the Fire Department, surrendered to police yesterday in Staten Island, police reported. The 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound firefighter was assigned to Ladder 111 in Brooklyn, police said. He surrendered to police yesterday morning around 10 a.m., and has been charged with forcible touching and endangering the welfare of a child, police said, for allegedly touching his 15-year-old stepdaughter in a sexual manner through her clothing. The abuse was ongoing from November 2005, through the end of January 2006, police said. Fire Department officials last said the situation is under investigation.

– Special to the Sun

STATEWIDE

MAN CHARGED WITH KEEPING FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS’ MONEY

SYRACUSE – A 35-year-old man who worked for a student exchange organization was arraigned on charges that he cheated six teenage foreign exchange students out of approximately $2,800 last year. Christopher Seals, an area representative of the International Student Exchange organization, is accused of meeting the students as they arrived at Hancock Airport during September and October, then telling them he needed to hold on to their money. Police said Mr. Seals told the students he would give them money as they needed it, but instead kept most of the cash. “They feared if they didn’t give him the money, they’d be sent back to their home countries,” Detective David Buske said.

– Associated Press

TEENAGER SAVES WOMAN’S LIFE, 7 YEARS AFTER SHE SAVED HIS

BUFFALO – A Buffalo-area teenager recently got the chance to thank the woman who saved his life – by saving hers. The 17-year-old successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on the choking woman in the Depew restaurant where he was washing dishes. Then his mother recognized the woman as the nurse who performed CPR on him in 1999 after he was struck in the chest by a baseball bat. More than a week after the January 27 incident, Kevin Stephan and Penny Brown are still surprised by the coincidence. “It was meant to happen,” Mr. Stephan, now a volunteer firefighter, said.

– Associated Press

TRISTATE

TANK LEAKS OIL INTO THE PASSAIC RIVER

TOTOWA, N.J. – Authorities yesterday were responding to the release of thousands of gallons of fuel oil into the Passaic River, causing spots of slick stretching from Totowa to Paterson. A Passaic County Sheriff’s Department spokesman, Bill Maer, said the leak started at about 9 a.m. from an aboveground tank of fuel used to heat a furnace at asphalt manufacturer Tilcon in Totowa. Mr. Maer said estimates of the leak’s size ranged from 4,000 to 9,000 gallons. There was no answer at a number listed for Tilcon’s Totowa factory. About 30 law enforcement and state and federal environmental officials converged on the plant, cordoning off areas around the tank and a storm drain leading to an area tributary of the Passaic River. Leaking from the tank was stopped at about 3 p.m., Captain James Hearney said.

– Associated Press

FAMILY, BABY SITTER KILLED IN PLANE CRASH

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – A family of five from New Jersey and their baby sitter were killed when a twin-engine plane crashed just shy of the Grand Strand Airport, a Horry County coroner, Robert Edge, said. The pilot, Jon Kraut, of Ewing, N.J., was killed by the impact of the crash, Mr. Edge said yesterday. Kraut’s wife, Robin, also was aboard with their three children, April, 2; Jessica, 6; and Avery, 8. The baby sitter was 17-year-old Gracila Ranierz. A National Transportation Safety Board investigator on the scene said the pilot told the tower he was having trouble with his left engine.The plane made one approach and was coming back to try to land again when it crashed short of the runway around 8:45 p.m. Friday, a NTSB spokesman, Paul Schlamm said.

– Associated Press