FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • The Queens Courier 19 Body of missing flight attendant from Astoria found on the shore of Rikers Island: cops By Robert Pozarycki rpozarycki@qns.com/@robbpoz The worst fears of the family of Sierra Shields — an Astoria flight attendant who disappeared in January — were confirmed on Sept. 16. Police announced on Sept. 16 that the human remains that had washed up on the western shore of Rikers Island on Sept. 14 were those of Shields, a 30-year-old resident of 35th Street who was last seen alive at LaGuardia Airport on Jan. 14. For the past eight months, the Shields family and members of Astoria’s Connection Church, which she attended, have been desperately searching for the young woman; two Facebook pages were launched as part of the effort to find her. Shields’ father, Chris, told CBS New York in January that Sierra Shields had quit her job at Shuttle America the day before she disappeared and seemed “distressed” when she informed her parents of her resignation. After her disappearance, Shields’ parents found her phone and wallet in their home. A cause of death has yet to be determined by the Medical Examiner’s office. Photo via Facebook The body of Astoria’s Sierra Shields, who disappeared in January, was found on the Rikers Island shoreline this week. Identity theft, pickpocketing drive ‘uptick’ in crime in 109th Pct. By Suzanne Monteverdi smonteverdi@qns.com/@smont76 Areas of Flushing, College Point and Whitestone saw an increase in crime for the year largely due to grand larcenies, according to the commander of the 109th Precinct. “We are experiencing an uptick in crime for the year,” said Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison at the 109th Precinct Community Council’s meeting on Sept. 14. “We’re above approximately 67 index crimes — overall index crimes — with the overwhelming majority of those crimes being grand larcenies.” Harrison attributed the rise to identity theft scams conducted via phone, email and letter. The most prevalent of these crimes has been a phone scam in which the caller claims to be from the IRS. “It’s a serious thing,” Harrison said. “What happens is they speak so quickly, and they rush you, and they hurry you and they cause such a panic in you, because you want to do the right thing. Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison giving the 109th Precinct’s monthly crime update So the idea of owing the IRS frightens you, and you want to comply.” Harrison also reported a spike in stolen unattended items and asked the community to be careful of what they leave behind in their cars. “You’d be surprised how many people leave so many valuables in their vehicles: laptops, cellphones, wallets, purses,” Harrison said. “People will break in your cars and take your items.” Photo: Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS Harrison closed by reminding individuals wearing purses or backpacks — and people playing Pokémon GO — to always keep their bags closed and pay attention to their surroundings. “Always be aware of who’s walking close to you,” Harrison said. “Don’t be so engrossed in walking, or shopping, or whatever it is people are doing and not paying attention.” Hundreds will rally in Astoria to close Rikers Island By Angela Matua amatua@qns.com @AngelaMatua Celebrities, elected officials, community leaders and citizens will march from Astoria to Rikers Island this weekend to demand that Mayor Bill de Blasio shut down the decades-old jail. The Sept. 24 rally is a part of the #CLOSERikers campaign, a citywide effort by 98 advocacy groups, to shut down what many call a “failed” jail complex. JustLeadershipUSA, an organization that is dedicated to cutting the nation’s correctional population in half by 2030, is leading the event. “Rikers does not deliver safety nor justice – it is wasteful, racially biased, unsafe and unjust,” said Glenn E. Martin, president and founder of JustLeadershipUSA. “With all that we know about the human suffering that occurs in Rikers, the biggest scandal is that Rikers continues to exist at all. It must be closed down.” Starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the group will march from 30th Avenue and Steinway Street in Astoria to 19th Avenue and Hazen Street, at the foot of the Rikers Island Bridge. The rally will begin at 4 p.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. According to Captain Peter Fortune, the commanding officer of the 114th Precinct, about 500 to 800 people are expected to attend the event. The precinct will have officers and traffic agents in cars, scooters and on foot patrolling the area. Emily Althaus, an actor on the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black,” Councilman Danny Dromm and Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, are some of the people expected to attend. Nearly 80 percent of prisoners detained in Rikers Island have not been convicted of a crime but are detained awaiting trial because they cannot afford to pay bail. Some may spend months or even years awaiting trial. According to a 2015 study by the Vera Institute of Justice, detaining a person at Rikers Island for one year costs the city $209,000. More than 40 percent of the people detained on Rikers Island have a diagnosed mental illness and studies show those with mental illness are more likely to be the victims and offenders of violence. De Blasio has announced some reforms meant to decrease the violence at the jail, including tripling the number of mental health units on site. Plans are also being made to move adolescents jailed there to two juvenile detention centers in the Bronx but this transfer could take four years. “Every week, if not every day, a new, horrific story emerges from Rikers,” Martin said. “There is no dispute that the Rikers Island Correctional Facility jails are dangerous, isolated and woefully inappropriate for human beings.” To get more information about the march, visit closerikers. org. Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons/Matt Green Hundreds are expected to march through the streets of Astoria to demand that Rikers Island be shut down.
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