Bizarre ‘serial litterer’ covering Brooklyn street with old books exposed as NYPD sergeant
After years of speculation and observation, residents of a leafy section of Brooklyn managed to discover that a veteran New York police officer was behind a string of bizarre littering incidents on a street in Greenpoint. “Now, I’m sure we all have random papers in our weekly recycling bin,” one resident wrote on the local site Greenpointers. “But I need to stress to those who have yet to experience this phenomenon with their own eyes the SHEER VOLUME of papers floating down the street. It looks like the work of someone with an enormous collection of old books who spends their weekend tearing apart pages before scattering them in the wind.” Residents told Gothamist that for years on end, they would wake to find find pile after pile of meticulously sliced book pages strewn across Noble Street, ranging from selections of the Bible to 1970s porn magazines to a book on Greco-Roman art. “Sometimes things would be underlined or highlighted on the pages, and we would try to figure out if there was a message,” former block association president Molly FitzSimons told the outlet. “We really could not imagine who would do this … It was just this shadowy mystery.” “It made me just feel compassion for this person who clearly was processing something difficult.” Others didn’t take so kindly to the document dumps. Neighbours began actively trying to catch the person they dubbed the “book bandit,” with one resident deploying their surveillance camera to the effort, and another arranging for a private security firm to stake out the street in the hopes of catching the serial litterer. Security footage obtained by WNYC shows the man in action, driving slowly in the dark and dumping an armful of paper into the road. Eventually, the citizen efforts helped yield a licence plate number, prompting the NYPD to investigate Sergeant John Trzcinski, a veteran officer who joined the force in 1994 and earned $177,516, according to public records. When asked about the littering allegations, the NYPD directed The Independent to a database of disciplinary actions, which showed Sergeant Trzcinski was disciplined on 30 May for littering, losing a vacation day. The Independent has contacted the officer and the police union for comment. The city Department of Sanitation confirmed to Gothamist that Sergeant Trzcinski, who lives in Long Island, hasn’t been fined for littering or illegal dumping. Litterers need to be caught in the act by police or sanitation personnel, and the bundles of papers Sergeant Trzcinski left in the street weren’t large enough to qualify as illegal dumping. Sergeant Trzcinski has been awarded multiple awards for police service, and hasn’t been previously disciplined, according to public records. Read More Veteran police official Edward Caban becomes first Latino to head the NYPD Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect named as Rex Heuermann after arrest for Long Island murders New York City's Rikers Island, facing possible federal takeover, found violating safety standards
2023-07-21 01:51
Alabama death row inmate James Barber expected to be executed following appeals court ruling
Amid fears of another botched execution, Alabama plans to put James Barber to death on Thursday or early Friday after a federal appeals court upheld a decision not to halt his execution despite his claim that lethal injection could result in cruel and unusual punishment.
2023-07-21 01:49
Malawi racist videos: Chinese man convicted after BBC expose
Lu Ke was shown by BBC Africa Eye making videos with children, some of which included racist content.
2023-07-21 01:23
Florida girl awarded $800,000 for McDonald's Chicken McNugget burn
Her family had alleged the child received severe burns when a McDonalds nugget fell on her leg.
2023-07-21 00:59
We can't air-condition our way out of America's heat crisis
Extreme heat in the summer has become America's brutal new reality. But local, state and federal aid programs and infrastructure to help people cool down haven't kept up with the country's record-shattering temperatures.
2023-07-21 00:57
Homicides in 30 US cities dropped by nearly 10% in the first half of 2023 compared to last year, study finds
The number of homicides in 30 US cities declined in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of last year but has remained above pre-pandemic levels, according to a report released Thursday by the Council on Criminal Justice.
2023-07-21 00:45
McCarthy told Trump he backed expunging impeachments but there's no vote being scheduled
In a private call with former President Donald Trump, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he personally backed the idea of expunging Trump's two impeachments and would bring it up to the conference to gauge support, a source said. He did not promise to bring it to the floor, the source added.
2023-07-21 00:26
Ukraine has started using US provided cluster munitions in combat
Ukrainian troops have started firing the cluster munitions provided by the US as part of their counteroffensive against Russia, according to two US officials and another person briefed on the matter.
2023-07-21 00:26
2022 data shows pandemic shifted Americans toward voting by mail
The Covid-19 pandemic may have had a durable impact on the way Americans vote, with voting by mail remaining more popular in 2022 than it was pre-pandemic, according to new data released by the United States Election Assistance Commission.
2023-07-21 00:23
Wife of Gilgo Beach murders suspect files for divorce
Asa Ellerup's lawyer says her life has been "turned upside down" by Rex Heuermann's alleged crimes.
2023-07-20 23:55
US House Speaker McCarthy denies deal with Trump to expunge impeachments
WASHINGTON U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday said he did not make any promises to
2023-07-20 23:20
US airstrike kills 5 al-Shabaab militants in Somalia
The US military killed five al-Shabaab militants in a "collective self-defense airstrike" in Somalia, US Africa Command announced Thursday.
2023-07-20 22:45
