POLICE BLOTTER

DNA LINKS LITTLEJOHN TO ABDUCTION OF QUEENS WOMAN

The man accused of brutally killing graduate student Imette St. Guillen faced new charges yesterday, after prosecutors linked DNA evidence from St. Guillen’s murder to the abduction of a Queens woman last year. Darryl Littlejohn, 41, pleaded not guilty yesterday to kidnapping, robbery, assault, and impersonation charges after police matched DNA found on the handcuffs of his Queens victim to forensic evidence from the St. Guillen case. The Queens district attorney, Richard Brown, said Littlejohn attempted to abduct a 19-year-old York College student in October 2005, although she managed to escape from his van when Littlejohn stopped at a red light.

– Special to the Sun

PARACHUTER CAUGHT BEFORE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING JUMP

A man attempting to parachute off the Empire State Building yesterday afternoon was caught by building security just before launching himself off the 86th floor of the Midtown skyscraper. Police said Ray Corliss, 30, of Malibu, Calif., a stuntman who reportedly has launched himself off other buildings in the past, entered the Empire State Building around 12:30 p.m. wearing a $15,000 fat suit, mask, and wig as a disguise. Building representatives, who had been tipped off by a friend of the jumper that he might attempt such a maneuver, said Mr. Corliss managed to climb the observatory deck’s 6-foot fence before security guards grabbed his legs and restrained him by handcuffing him to the fence. Emergency responders ultimately removed a section of the fence to pull him to safety. As of last night, charges for assault, obstruction of governmental administration, and reckless endangerment were pending.

– Special to the Sun

MAN DIES IN POLICE CUSTODY AFTER SWALLOWING DRUGS

A Bronx man died yesterday after swallowing a package of crack cocaine just as two police officers were about to arrest him, police said. Jamal Roberts, 22, of East 161st Street, was allegedly resisting arrest when police said he swallowed a cellophane packet containing 23 smaller bags of crack cocaine. After he fell to the ground and stopped breathing, emergency responders extracted the package with forceps, but Roberts was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital shortly thereafter.

– Special to the Sun

CITYWIDE

CITY REACHES TENTATIVE CONTRACT DEAL WITH CORRECTION OFFICERS

The city has reached a tentative contract agreement with the union representing correction officers, Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday. The 27-month proposed deal, covering the period between May 2005 and July 2007, would give total raises of 6.24% to about 8,100 workers in the city’s jails.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

GUN LAWSUIT EVADES CONGRESSIONAL ATTEMPT TO KILL IT

For the fourth time, New York City’s lawsuit against several gun manufacturers has survived an attempt by Congress to kill it off. A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the city may have access to gun tracing information gathered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, even though a recently passed measure expressly forbids such data from being used in civil suits.

– Associated Press

MANHATTAN

HARLEM CHOIR SEX-ABUSE VICTIM SPEAKS OUT PUBLICLY

The boy at the center of the sexual-abuse scandal that shook the Boys Choir of Harlem is no longer a boy. But even at 20 years old and 6 feet 2 inches, he became “petrified” the other day when he thought he spotted the man who sexually abused him starting at age 12, Frank Jones. For years, the boy referred to as “Student A,” “the choirboy victim,” and “the teen” was held captive by shame, fear, and embarrassment. Now he just wants to be called by his name, David Pinks. He no longer fears the abuse will “taint” or “stain” his manhood. Mr. Pinks wants to encourage other sexual abuse victims, especially boys and men, to defeat the stigma by talking openly about their own ordeals.

– Associated Press

ASBESTOS DELAYS SEARCH ON BUILDING ROOF

The search for human remains on the roof of the former Deutsche Bank building near the World Trade Center site has been suspended after asbestos was discovered there last week, officials said yesterday.

– Associated Press

ROOSEVELT ISLAND RESIDENTS PUSH FOR RETURN OF TRAM

Residents of Roosevelt Island urged officials to move quickly to restore service to the island’s 30-year-old tram, which was shut down pending an investigation into the malfunction that stranded 68 passengers over the East River last week. While there is subway access to Roosevelt Island, the residents said it was insufficient given the high percentage of elderly and disabled people among the island’s population of 9,000.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

IN THE COURTS

‘GRANNY PEACE BRIGADE’ ACQUITTED

A judge acquitted the elderly women known as the “Granny Peace Brigade” yesterday of disorderly conduct charges stemming from an anti-war protest held last year at the Times Square recruitment center.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

‘INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE’ TO CHARGE SECOND MAN IN TODDLER’S DEATH

Prosecutors have concluded there is insufficient evidence to charge a man who had been sought after the stray bullet death of a 2-year-old boy on Easter Sunday, a spokesman for the Bronx district attorney’s office said yesterday. Ronneil Gilliam, 25, of the Bronx, previously had been sought for questioning in the death of David Pacheco Jr., who was shot while strapped in his booster seat in his mother’s minivan on April 16. Last week, the alleged gunman, Nicholas Morris, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. He surrendered after proclaiming his innocence.

– Associated Press

JURY WEIGHS PERJURY CASE AGAINST WITNESS IN 9/11 PROBE

In the feverish days following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a young immigrant named Osama Awadallah looked like an important lead for investigators. Yet, like several other foreigners imprisoned as material witnesses immediately after the 2001 attacks, Mr. Awadallah turned out to be an intelligence bust. A federal jury in Manhattan began deliberating yesterday morning on the only charge brought against him: an allegation that he made two false statements to a grand jury during hours of otherwise honest testimony on October 10, 2001. Prosecutors said that while Mr. Awadallah was no terrorist and appears to have been only a brief acquaintance of hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar, he intentionally misled grand jurors about how well he knew one of the murderers.

– Associated Press

COURT UPHOLDS FIRINGS OVER RACIST PARADE FLOAT

The city was within its rights to fire a police officer and two firefighters who rode a parade float featuring mocking stereotypes of blacks, a federal appeals panel said yesterday.

– Associated Press

COURT: CITY CAN SUE FOREIGN COUNTRIES OVER UNPAID TAXES

A federal appeals court has ruled that the City of New York can sue foreign countries in American courts for refusing to pay property taxes on diplomatic buildings. Several countries with a major presence around the United Nations complex in Manhattan have been battling the city for years over taxes assessed on the skyscrapers that house their consulates and diplomatic missions.

– Associated Press

STATE SENATOR REJECTS PLEA DEAL OFFER

A state senator, Ada Smith, who is accused of throwing hot coffee in the face of a former staffer, yesterday rejected a plea deal that included anger management treatment.

– Associated Press

ALBANY

HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION SAYS IT WILL SUE PATAKI OVER BUDGET VETOES

The Healthcare Association of New York State said yesterday it plans to sue Governor Pataki in an effort to restore $1.3 billion in funding for hospitals and nursing homes the governor cut from this year’s state budget. The group, representing more than 550 nonprofit and public hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care organizations, plans to challenge Mr. Pataki’s authority to declare nearly $2 billion of the budget passed by the state Legislature unconstitutional.

– Associated Press

ELECTION BOARD SETS MACHINE STANDARDS

After months of haggling, the state Board of Elections has adopted guidelines for new voting machines that can be used in New York and ordered machine makers to disclose information about their political contributions and any lawsuits against them. A statement released by the board yesterday said “these new standards go beyond Help America Vote Act requirements and contain a number of features that make them model regulations for the nation.” The standards require a voter-verifiable paper trail.

– Associated Press