In a crime taken right from a cop show, Kwame Hamilton, 19, and Antwione Nabnet, 20, both of Jamaica, allegedly stole a cell phone from a victim walking down a Jamaica street and then attempted to sell the phone back to their victim.
The only difference was that in the TV show the thief stole a laptop computer. Two days after the robbery, the victim claims he received an e-mail from the address Kwame_Hamilton@yahoo.com, which said, “I got your phone from a kid in the neighborhood. I paid $30, it is locked and looks like it’s yours. I’ll give it back to you for $30.”
The police recovered the phone and arrested Nabnet and Hamilton. They were charged with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property. Then in a decision that defies reason, Queens Criminal Court Judge Gene Lopez released the men on their own recognizance.
According to the complaint, the robbers told the victim they had a gun. Whether or not they actually had a gun, that is armed robbery. The judge chose to treat them like jaywalkers. That definitely sends a message to the Queens criminals.
Granny Get Your Gun
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has sent a half-hearted apology to state Sen. Michael Gianaris saying it “sincerely regrets any discomfort or inconvenience” resulting from its search of two elderly women at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
But the TSA denied asking either of the women to remove their clothing.
The apology was not enough for Gianaris or the women.
The incidents were reported on all of the news channels and the TSA came off looking like a bully with no respect for the elderly.
But let’s get real. The radicals willing to blow up or hijack an airplane would not hesitate to hide a bomb, gun or knife on a grandmother. The TSA agents must take their jobs seriously and conduct a reasonable search of every passenger.
We do not doubt these women were traumatized and for that we support U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer’s proposal that the TSA institute a “passenger advocate” to resolve disputes between passengers and agents.
But to make a policy that would exclude any passenger from a sensible search would only open the door for the next disaster.
