CITYWIDE

Hearings Aim To Restore Faith in Police

In the wake of the police shooting of Sean Bell, the City Council will hold a series of hearings and town hall meetings in each borough aimed at strengthening relations between communities and the Police Department. The fatal shooting last month of Bell, who was unarmed, has sparked anger in some areas, and some black leaders have accused the police of abusive tactics and racial profiling. The hearings, to begin early next year, will examine community policing, along with officer training and monitoring.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Sanitation Workers Offered Raise Under Deal

The city’s nearly 1,200 sanitation officers will get a 17% raise over four-and-a-half years under a tentative contract settlement with the Bloomberg administration, city officials announced yesterday. The deal, which is subject to ratification by the Sanitation Officers Association, covers the period from May 2003 through November 2007. Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement that the wage increases were in line with other recent municipal union contracts.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Search Resumes For Brooklyn Climber

More searchers headed up Mount Hood in Oregon yesterday, joining rescuers who had spent the night on the mountain in the hunt for three missing climbers, including one from Brooklyn. The weather was windy but dry yesterday, following blizzard conditions that hampered the search the day before. Two more storms are expected this week, with one beginning early Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. “Today is a window of opportunity between storms,” said Bill Schneider, science and operations officer at the weather service’s Portland office.

— Associated Press

Police: Teenager Shot While Playing With Gun

A 14-year-old boy shot himself in the abdomen yesterday morning while playing with a gun in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, police officials said. The boy, who wasn’t identified, was found at about 11:30 a.m. in an apartment at 56 Monument Walk with a gunshot wound to his lower torso. He was brought to Bellevue Hospital, where he was undergoing surgery last night. A .22 caliber revolver was recovered from the scene. Police officials said the boy and a friend were playing with the gun when it fired.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

Drug and Gun Dealers Arrested in Harlem

More than 40 drug dealers and three gun dealers in Central and East Harlem were charged yesterday, capping a 22-month investigation of drug transactions and shootings, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said. According to prosecutors, 28 members of two rival gangs – the King Towers Gang and the Schomburg Crew – were taken into custody. Thirty-three suspects were apprehended, while 13 others are considered fugitives. Prosecutors said the King Towers Gang has grossed over one million dollars per year, mostly selling PCP and other narcotics. The Schomburg Crew has dealt in crack and crack cocaine. Prosecutors said they recovered more than a dozen guns.

— Special to the Sun

IN THE COURTS

Rapper Stole Borrowed Bling, Jeweler Says

Harlem rap star Juelz Santana failed to pay for diamond and gold jewelry that he borrowed and never returned worth $165,000, says a city jeweler who filed suit in Manhattan federal court this week. The rapper, whose real name is LaRon James, borrowed a 14-karat white gold necklace and another with 101 diamonds last year, according to the suit filed by Avicci Ltd. Mr. James failed to pay when he got an invoice, then kept the goods anyway, according to court papers. A man who answered the jeweler’s phone number declined to comment. Attempts to reach Mr. James were unsuccessful.

— Special to the Sun

Man Found Guilty In Bow & Arrow Killing

A man was convicted yesterday of murder for firing an aluminum arrow into the heart of a stranger after a random argument on a suburban street. The jury needed only a few hours over two days of deliberations to convict veteran hunter Thomas Sirico, 35, of second-degree murder in the Jan. 8, 2006, death of Juan Carlos “Angel” Munoz. Sirico, who testified for the defense, initially came outside with a bow and shot an arrow into his friend’s truck. Sirico then noticed Munoz, 27, and others across the street. A comment was made, and Sirico asked the group of strangers, “Who said that?” When Munoz answered “I did,” the agitated Sirico fired an arrow at the man across the street, Mr. Merrifield said. Sirico faces 25 years to life in prison.

— Associated Press

Housing Managers Accused of Stealing

The managers of a 230-unit housing project in Harlem stole hundreds of thousands of dollars that were intended for housing improvements, the federal government said in a lawsuit filed yesterday. The suit alleges that the managers of the Ennis Francis Houses on 7th Avenue used $1,600 of the stolen money to make contributions to local political clubs including the Martin Luther King Democratic Club and the Lloyd Dickens Democratic Club. The defendants are two corporations, the Ennis Francis Houses Associates and the Community Resource Management Corporation, and an individual, Herbert Wright, who was removed two years ago as the administrator of the housing project.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

POLICE BLOTTER

Teenage Girl Was Fondled By Driver, Police Say

A 13-year-old girl was fondled and threatened with scissors by a driver who stopped her on a street to ask for directions, police said. The man called the girl over to his dark Lincoln Town Car yesterday morning on a Queens street, the police said. The girl was standing on the side of traffic and was nearly struck by an oncoming vehicle, so the man told her to get into the car. After she got in, the man drove away, stopped nearby and then began to fondle her and tried to take off her clothes, police said.

— Associated Press