FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com FEBRUARY 20, 2014 • THE COURIER SUN 3 QUEENS SNAPS Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us via our Facebook page at www. facebook.com/QueensCourier, by tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing them to ctumola@queenscourier. com. REMEMBER THE WORLD’S FAIR? Did you or someone you know attend the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows- Corona Park? If yes, The Courier is asking you to share your memorabilia and/or memories with us to commemorate the event’s 50th anniversary this April. You could win a dinner for two. Please email your entries to editorial@ queenscourier.com with the subject line “World’s Fair Anniversary” or to Editorial, 38-15, Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361. Note: All photos/items become property of The Queens Courier Seminar seeks to END THE VIOLENCE BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com/ @magghayes Domestic violence crimes have increased over 50 percent in one south Queens precinct and cops are reaching out to bring awareness to the community. “There are laws we obey. There is a population out there that you cannot prey upon, including your family,” said Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, Commanding Offi cer of the 106th Precinct. The 106 is teaming up with the neighboring 102nd Precinct to host a seminar on domestic violence awareness on Thursday, February 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fair Field Pavilion, located 131-10 101st Avenue in Richmond Hill. The seminar is “open to anybody who wants to come,” Schiff said, and will feature guest speakers from the district attorney’s offi ce, social workers and psychologists. The 2013 year-end statistics showed a 53 percent increase in domestic violence assaults, Schiff said. The NYPD expanded the defi nition of domestic violence to include all couples, spousal or not, as well as long-term roommates. “The defi nition has expanded, so have the crimes,” Schiff said. “That contributes to the increase.” During the seminar, and also through efforts to curtail the crime, police will work with victims, mainly women and children, and detail how they respond to domestic violence reports, including the initial response and possible remedies for the situation. Cops will also seek out aggressors and educate them. “We want them to know this is what can happen to you, should you lay hands on your family,” Schiff said. As The Courier went to press, 106th Precinct cops responded to a domestic homicide incident involving two brothers in South Ozone Park. Domestic violence crimes have also made headlines outside the 106. This week, reports surfaced claiming Deisy Garcia, whose husband killed her along with her two young daughters in January, had fi led several domestic-incident reports months ealier, one saying he might murder her, but the warnings were overlooked because they were never translated. It is NYPD policy to have all reports translated into English. Her husband, Miguel Mejia-Ramos, 29, is accused of killing his 21-year-old wife and their children, Daniela Mejia, 2, and Yaslin Mejia, 1, inside of their Sutphin Boulevard apartment sometime between January 18 and 19. He has been charged with fi rst-degree and second-degree murder, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection to the killings. BILL TO MAKE INSURANCES PAY FOR TRACKING BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com/ @a altamirano28 Staten Island Assemblymember Matthew Titone introduced a bill in the state assembly that would require insurance companies to offer GPS device tracking coverage for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The bill comes after autistic teen Avonte Oquendo was laid to rest. Avonte was last seen at the Center Boulevard School in Long Island City on October 4, when he ran out of the school, located just across from the East River. His body was found on January 16, washed up in College Point. “The tracking devices are crucial in fi nding lost children quickly and safely,” said Titone. “Unfortunately, such devices can be expensive and diffi cult to maintain.” Titone also added that insurance companies would be responsible for covering the costs of the equipment and monitoring services. In January, Senator Charles Schumer introduced a bill called “Avonte’s Law” which will create and fund a program to provide voluntary tracking devices and increase support services for families of children with ASD or any other developmental conditions in which bolting is common. Later that same month, the Department of Justice agreed to take existing funding which already helps track seniors with Alzheimer’s and expand it to children with ASD. The funding will become available to police departments or other local law enforcement groups that would be able to provide tracking devices to parents, schools and legal guardians interested in the program. DA: Man sexually abused handicapped woman BY MAGGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com/@magghayes A Pennsylvania man is charged with sexually abusing a mentally handicapped 40-year-old woman who has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old. Frank Wood, 37, targeted the woman at the Aqueduct Racetrack on Super Bowl Sunday, February 2, according to District Attorney Richard A. Brown. A witness said she was in the facility’s restroom when she heard a woman scream and a male voice coming from inside a stall, according to a criminal complaint. The male voice, identifi ed in court documents as Wood, allegedly said, “Don’t tell anybody.” The witness then saw Wood exit the stall, adjusting his belt and pants. She then found the victim, naked, inside the bathroom stall, according to the DA. Wood is charged with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape, endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, sexual abuse and unlawful imprisonment.
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