News

The Monsey Hanukkah attacker cannot assist in his defense and should be declared unfit to stand trial. That’s according to a defense psychiatric report presented in federal court last week. LoHud.com says 37 year-old Grafton Thomas suffers from hallucinations and disjointed thinking, but he does understand the nature of the criminal charges against him. The report claims Thomas had not been taking his medication for about a month before the attack. Thomas faces hate crime charges in federal court and attempted murder charges in Rockland County Court.

A New City man has been charged with robbing the Chase Bank on Route 59 in Nanuet Monday. Clarkstown Police say 46 year-old Jamie Bass was arrested and charged with third degree Robbery and Petit Larceny. Police say he entered the bank and passed a note to the teller demanding money. Clarkstown Detectives tracked him down to the Nanuet Days Inn hotel and arrested him there within hours of the robbery.

A Spring Valley man will spend the next 22 years behind bars for the killing of another man last year. 24 year-old Jose Alejandro Icu-Madrid pleaded guilty to first degree manslaughter in September over the killing of Jairo Danilo Sandoval del Cid. Rockland District Attorney Tom Walsh said he was stabbed once in the chest and once in the back following an argument.

Law enforcement officers and district attorneys from around the state rallied in Albany yesterday with lawmakers calling for the repeal of the new bail laws that went into effect last month. Western Ramapo and Orange County assemblyman Karl Brabenec says the new bail laws are dangerous and those with law enforcement experience aren’t fans of the changes either…

Brabenec has legislation that would repeal the new bail reform laws, and he says it has more than 40 co-sponsors. He also has a petition online, and we have a link to it right here.

Meanwhile, crime stats have spiked in the city since the new laws took effect. Published reports say the NYPD has seen a 17% increase in all major index categories, with shootings up 27%, robberies up 35%, burglaries up 18%, auto thefts up 70%, grand larcenies up 10%, and felony assaults up 8.5%. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the report “cause for real concern.” The good news is murders and rapes are down.

Clarkstown Police have a man in custody they suspect of robbing an unknown amount of cash from the Chase Bank on Route 59 in Nanuet yesterday. Clarkstown Police had been looking for a man who went into the bank with a note that he gave to the teller around 10:40 yesterday morning. The suspect left the bank and fled, but police say it took just a few hours to find the unidentified man. The bank’s employees were not injured.