Daily Archives: June 29, 2016

Juan Scott pleads guilty to sexually assaulting 3 women

Juan Scott plead guilty on Wednesday for sexual assaults committed in 2014.

Juan Scott pleaded guilty on Wednesday to sexual assaults committed in Stuyvesant Town and the East Village.

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

Juan Scott, the man accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Stuyvesant Town elevator as well as two other women before that, has pleaded guilty to the three incidents.

Scott, 28, who’s also the cousin of actress Rosario Dawson, had initially pleaded not guilty.

He was arrested on October 19, 2014, two days after attacking a 20-year-old NYU student in Stuyvesant Town. On October 17 around 4:30 a.m.  Scott pushed the woman to the ground inside her building’s elevator and sexually assaulted her, although she was able to eventually fight him off. Multiple people in the building also heard the attack and went into the hallway, causing Scott to flee the scene. However, the incident was captured on a surveillance camera and Scott could be seen climbing down a tree to escape. After the images were released to the media, an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers helped police track Scott to his parents’ home on Long Island, the Manhattan District Attorney said.

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Police Watch: Teen arrested for putting cop in headlock, Knife point robbery at shelter

TEEN ARRESTED FOR PUTTING COP IN HEADLOCK ON FIRST AVENUE
Police arrested a teenager at the corner of First Avenue and East 15th Street last Wednesday at 7 p.m. for assault of a peace officer. Police were attempting to place the teen under arrest in regards to an attempted robbery when he flailed his arms and pushed the officer’s hands away. The teen also punched the officer in the face and placed the officer in a headlock, attempting to cut off the officer’s breathing.
The teen, whose name is being withheld due to his age, was also charged with obstruction of breath, resisting arrest, an unclassified misdemeanor and assault.

KNIFEPOINT ROBBERY AT 30TH STREET MEN’S SHELTER
Police arrested 45-year-old John Jemison for allegedly robbing another man at knifepoint at the 30th Street Men’s Shelter at 400 East 30th Street. The victim told police that he and Jemison got into an argument over money last Tuesday at 9:24 p.m. when Jemison allegedly pulled out a gravity knife and held it up to his throat while reaching into the victim’s pocket and taking out cash. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident.

MAN BUSTED FOR BREAKING CAR MIRRORS IN STUY TOWN
Police arrested 21-year-old John Christian in front of 505 East 14th Street last Friday at 3:28 a.m. for allegedly smashing car mirrors. Stuyvesant Town Public Safety told police that they had received a complaint about a man damaging the cars.
When police arrived in the area, they saw Christian allegedly in the act of damaging a car mirror and after he was stopped, police said that there were six cars nearby with similar damage. He was charged with criminal mischief.

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Opinion: Waiting for number 2

By former Assemblyman Steven Sanders
Some might remember the great 1980’s party game that for a time swept the nation called “Trivial Pursuit.” It matched players’ wits against little known facts from various areas of history. Example: Name the original four Beatles. Or, who was the first man in space? You get the idea. But better yet, who were the last two New Yorkers to be on the Republican Party national ticket? See how well you do (answers below). This is a particularly interesting trivia question since the 2016 presumptive Republican nominee for president was born and still lives in New York.
But this year’s “party game” of selecting a vice presidential running mate for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has much more consequence than Trivial Pursuit because it is about the future and not the past. And it is very much about who can help each nominee of their party win enough electoral votes in their pursuit to become president of the United States. These decisions will be made within the next few weeks as each party prepares for their National Conventions over the summer.
The first question is what are the “legal” qualifications needed to become vice president? You hope that the vice presidential candidate will have the stature and experience to become president if for whatever reason the incumbent president leaves office. That circumstance has actually occurred on eight occasions. But the answer is that there are three legal criteria. First, you need to be a natural born citizen of the United States. Then you need to be at least 35 (your age, not your IQ). And finally, you may not reside in the same state as the presidential nominee. That’s pretty much it. But the political considerations are much more involved.
The primary rule of thumb, like a doctor’s oath, is first to do no harm. A candidate for vice president must not detract from the presidential nominee in any way. After the fact, John McCain may have had buyer’s remorse having picked little known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin in 2008. Her glittering presence was a constant source of distraction from Senator McCain. In many ways, she upstaged him with her unscripted homilies about, well, just about everything. She attracted more media attention for her provocative remarks than McCain ever expected. In the end, she proved to be a minus, not a plus. And John McCain went down to defeat at the hands of novice Senator Barack Obama. In contrast, Obama chose the venerable Senator Joe Biden who in spite of his occasional gaffes along the way gave Mr. Obama the added credibility of a tried and tested politician who would not hog the spotlight but could competently assume the presidency.
Way back in 1960, underdog John F. Kennedy chose as his running mate the wily Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson from Texas who helped Kennedy carry not only his home state but also several other critically important southern states in a historically close election. “All the way with JFK and LBJ” proved to be a winning slogan and a cunningly smart choice. This in spite of the fact that the two men cared very little for one and other. But it was a political marriage made in heaven. In 1968, Republican candidate Richard Nixon from California picked Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew to balance the ticket geographically, and to add a tough-talking conservative to appeal to culturally angry white voters. It worked.

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