Crime in the City full episode: April 25, 2025

This week, a man is dragged down the street trying to stop a car theft

Plus, mysterious fluids are dropped on unsuspecting pedestrians. And a senior citizen gets shot. That's unacceptable

A Harlem grandmother is killed in crossfire. Right now, Fox 5's crime in the city

For our first story this week, we begin in the Pelham Bay neighborhood of the Bronx

That's where a person was dragged and injured after attempting to stop a thief from stealing their vehicle

Good days. Haley Fixler is at Jacoby Hospital in the Morris Park section of the Bronx with the details

Haley, what's happening? Good morning, Dad. It's because of the surveillance cameras stationed all around the neighborhood that we are able to actually watch this entire incident unfold

The victim was dragged two blocks by the suspect as he was holding onto his car for dear life

I do want to warn you, the video you're about to see is quite disturbing. So this all happened outside of a Chinese restaurant

I want you to watch as this man runs to his car that was double parked and left running

after noticing a man jumped into the driver's side. He gets there trying to stop the person from taking his car

And then you can see him holding on with all of his might as the car speeds off

And video from down the street then captures the victim still hanging on, getting dragged by a stolen car

And then the suspect crashes into a parked car. Take a listen

Now, that was the moment of impact, forcing the victim to fall into the middle of the street

And you can see pieces of the car still left on the ground. The suspect then drove away

He later dumped the car by the Pelham Parkway exit of the Hutchinson River Parkway and ran off

People who live and work nearby, they heard the noise from the crash, and then they came out to help

This is what they tell us. I heard the noise. I tore, and the car was spinning like crazy

And the noise was a big, big noise, violent. He hit the poor guy very hard

His leg was just dangling. It was horrible to see. Did you see him hanging on the side of the driver's side though

No, no. I came up about maybe three to five minutes later and that's when everybody was like

no, they went down the block and everybody was just, it was, it was hard. It was just horrible

to see, to look at. Now we're told the victim is still here at the hospital in critical condition

with severe leg trauma. Police tell us this is still an active investigation and they are still

searching for the man who stole the car. Staying in the Bronx, we head to the Wakefield section

where a mother and son were found dead inside an apartment. Also following breaking news out

of the Bronx right now, where police are investigating what they describe as a horrific scene inside an apartment. A woman and an eight-year-old boy found dead amid deplorable

conditions. Fox 5's Dorote Giordino is live right now in Wakefield with more on what we know at this moment

The walk in. The people who live around here say they are praying for that little girl's physical and

mental recovery. You see, we still don't know exactly how long she was inside that second floor apartment

with her dead mom and eight-year-old brother, but her neighbors tell us that they heard

screaming from that apartment for what felt like days here on East 231st Street in the Bronx It was Friday night that a relative came to this apartment to check in on the family after other family members grew concerned

That's when the bodies of the 38-year-old mom and her 8-year-old son were discovered

Neighbors say the boy had severe disabilities and needed a lot of care

And when police got here, they found both mom and son unresponsive

They were both pronounced dead at the scene. But that 4-year-old girl, she was rushed to Montefiore Medical Center

and is now remarkably in stable condition. Police have not released their names

but folks in the building say they wish they could have done more to help

She's a very nice lady, always polite, always saying hi to everyone

But you could just always see, like, there was, you know, something bothering her

something wrong with her. This is very, very shocking. You know, this is like the first time this ever happened out here

And I've been living over here for like 20 years now. Salsas tell us that the mom had past run-ins with the law. Neighbors also say she sometimes

acted erratically. Now, we've also learned that the Administration for Children's Services

has an open case with this family. Once again, a four-year-old girl was found alive inside

of a second-floor apartment here in the Bronx, where both her dead mom and eight-year-old

brother were found inside the apartment. We now head to Harlem, where a grandmother was shot and killed when she was caught in the middle of gunfire between two groups

Police say she was not the intended target. Fox Ice, Kendall Green has more from tonight's vigil held in her honor

When a senior citizen gets shot, that's unacceptable. Just one day following a deadly shooting in Harlem, evidence markers lied scattered across Malcolm X Boulevard

Just feet from where candles flickered in honor of the shooting victim, 61-year-old grandmother, Exenia Mehta, caught in the middle of gunfire

What you've done was shot your own self in the foot because they're coming for you, too

Don't think that you're going to hide. Don't think that nobody's going to talk because the woman that you took out is precious to the Savior

Among the several bullets fired around 1020 Tuesday night, one of the strays hit Mehta in the head

though police confirmed she wasn't the intended target. Yet, she ended up the sole casualty of the shootout, pronounced dead at the hospital

leaving her sister and loved ones mourning and disbelief. She's a pillar, not only in this community, she's a pillar of our family

And we said last night, we don't know what we're going to do, but what we know we're going to do is we're going to fight

Police, though they haven't publicly named a suspect, are connecting a person of interest to a violent offense last year

which Mayor Adams called out while on scene. The action of repeated offenders just last year, stabbing two people, doing a robbery, is now involved in a shooting that took the life of a working class person here in the city

Mete was remembered as a senior involved in her community, an advocate, a bodega owner, and most importantly, a loving grandmother full of compassion

The grandmother was shot in her head. We have to call it what it is by a bullet that was not meant for her

Police say they have a person of interest in connection with that shooting in custody

but stop short of saying whether that person will face charges and what those charges will be

Down in Midtown a New York City attorney has been indicted on charges of sexually assaulting six women inside his apartment FOX 5 Stephanie Bertini is in Lower Manhattan and Stephanie the Manhattan DA actually spoke about this case today

What do you have to say? Yeah, the district attorney, Alvin Bragg

calling the victims brave for coming forward. Ryan Himple was remanded, which means he will remain in custody

He's facing a string of charges arraigned on a 116-count indictment. It's alleged he committed sex crimes against at least six victims over a five-month period

He's facing charges including predatory sexual assault. District Attorney Alvin Bragg says the victims were physically and sexually assaulted

Some victims were allegedly promised money in exchange for sex. The DA says the victims were told nobody would believe them for coming forward

In court, it came out him allegedly told the victims he's an attorney, which was the truth

but use that to make them believe allegedly his connections and resources would mean he would never get in trouble

The DA's office says text messages and items recovered from his Midtown apartment serve as evidence now

including weapons and fake money sometimes allegedly used to pay the victim

Surveillance video is also in evidence. The case and the reason it's believed that there could be more victims now

Take a listen to DA Bragg. Each of these six women was subjected to hours of physical and sexual violence

The defendant, we allege, beat them, drugged them, and restrained them. He threatened them with firearms

He used a shock collar and a cattle prod intended for livestock

In addition to numerous weapons that were recovered, Investigators also found surveillance cameras and memory cards from which we extracted videos of dozens, if not hundreds, of different women

In court, it was alleged Shemple met the victims online. The DA's office is now asking any other potential victims out there to come forward

Bianca, this investigation, we're told, is ongoing. Over in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, residents say walking along Kent Avenue has turned dangerous

because someone in a second floor apartment may be tossing bleach, eggs, and even cooking oil

at random people. Fox says Richard Jacobus has the disgusting details. A casual stroll along Kent Avenue in Williamsburg may not be so casual after all. Well, at least

not in front of this window that sits above a manhole cover surrounded by a discolored part

of the sidewalk. I always look up to see if anyone's like doing anything on the night. It's like walk right by. Yeah, it's nerve wracking. Those who live in this neighborhood near North

Fifth and Sixth Streets who may unnaturally look up a few times say they're on guard. It's all

because they say a person occupying a second floor apartment has been pelting eggs, throwing

cooking oil and tossing bleach on random passersby seemingly just for fun. All of this reportedly

began back in December, but the culprit so far has avoided being identified. All of a sudden

she gets hit with something in her foot and it turns out it's an egg. She looks around what's

going on. One resident who did not want to show his face on camera tells us that his pregnant wife

was pelted a few months ago He and his family now only walk on the opposite side of the street I called the cops other people called the cops and nothing happened no one came out And the local supermarket staff is urging customers to avoid the northeast side of the street

even if that means crossing it twice to get to their store. Just to avoid it because they throw fluids

Like while you're walking, they'll throw it on you too. In a letter sent to tenants this week, a law firm representing the management company for Edge Community Apartments

blasts the person responsible, saying, quote, This act is not only a violation of your lease, it may affect the health and safety of others, but it is undoubtedly against the law

They go on to say in capital letters, please be advised that you may not dispose of or throw anything out of your apartment windows

The landlord's security team will be keeping a close eye on any individual who may be partaking in the above described nuisance activity

Stop the guy? It's terrible. Like, what are we doing here? Building management says it's aware of this situation but cannot comment on active NYPD investigations

Meanwhile, the NYPD says it received a harassment report just a couple of weeks ago from a person claiming they were hit with an unknown substance from an unknown apartment window

The person was not hurt, but the mystery behind who's carrying out this dangerous act is still not solved

And finally, we end out on Long Island, where after nearly three decades, a torso that was found in Hempstead Lake State Park has been identified

Police now identifying the victim who became known as Peaches, as well as her two-year-old daughter

Fox site Jody Goldberg joins us live from Mineola. And Jody, this is a day that's been years in the making

It has been. We know their names. We don't know who's responsible

And tonight, the Nassau County Police Department is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest

They've identified the mom as Tanya Denise Jackson, her daughter Tatiana Marie s

Take a look at these photos on your screen. This is the first time we're seeing these victims

Jackson's torso was found back in 1997, stuffed in a container at Hempstead Lake State Park

Her daughter, Tatiana, born in Texas, she was discovered along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach back in 2011

We're told Jackson, a 26-year-old single mom and U.S. Army veteran, possibly worked at a medical office while living in Brooklyn

These photos show the jewelry the two were wearing at the time, and this car, a 91 Geostorm, is similar to the one police say she drove

The two were among three sets of human remains long associated with the Gilgo Beach case, who had never been publicly identified

And this breakthrough made possible thanks to forensic techniques used by the FBI and local law enforcement

The reality is our work has just begun. Knowing the identities of the mom and the little baby is just a first step to help us get to solving these murders

Did you serve with her in the military? Were you a neighbor or a co-worker during her time here in Brooklyn

Maybe you saw them at a medical appointment where she worked or were her friend

We want to hear from them. And now we reached out to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office

they tell me they're not commenting until an unrelated hearing on Rex Hewerman at the

Gilgo suspected serial killer wraps up